PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Presented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


BX  5995  .W5  W5  1839 
Wilson,  Bird,  1777-1859. 
Memoir  of  the  life  of  the 
Right  Reverend  William 


MEMOIR  OF  THE  LIFE 


OF   THE   RIGHT   EEVEREND 


WILLIAM    WHITE,    D.D., 


BISHOP 


PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH 


STATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


BY 

BIRD    WILSON,   D.D., 

PROFESSOR  OP  SYSTEMATICK  DIVINITY  IN  THE  GENERAL  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

JAMES  KAY,  JUN.  &  BROTHER,  122  CHESTNUT  STREET. 

PITTSBURGH:  — C.  H.  KAY  &  CO. 

1839. 


Entered,  according  to  the  act  of  congress,  in  the  year  1839,  by  James  Kav,  Juw.  ic  Bro- 
ther, in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  district  court  of  the  United  States  in  and  for  the  east- 
ern district  of  Pennsylvania. 


PREFACE. 


The  preparation  of  the  following  Memoir  was 
undertaken  by  the  Author  at  the  request  of  the  Fa- 
mily of  Bishop  White,  and  also  of  a  meeting  of  the 
Episcopal  Clergy  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  its 
neighbourhood,  together  with  some  of  their  brethren 
who  had  come  from  other  dioceses  to  attend  his  fune- 
ral held  on  the  21st  of  July  1836,  a  few  days  after 
the. Bishop's  decease.  As  soon  as  his  papers  could 
be  examined,  and  other  materials  collected,  the  work 
was  commenced,  and  was  delivered  in  a  state  for  pub- 
lication in  September  1837.  The  authentic  materials 
from  which  it  has  been  composed,  are  stated  or  re- 
ferred to  in  the  course  of  the  Memoir  itself,  and  need 
not  be  here  particularly  detailed.  I  have  only  to 
express  my  acknowledgements  to  Dr  William  H. 
Hobart,  for  the  obliging  readiness  with  which  he  fa- 
voured me  with  the  letters  of  Dr  White  to  his  father, 
the  late  Bishop  Hobart,  in  the  course  of  an  extensive 


IV  PREFACE. 

and  long  continued  correspondence  between  them. 
Unexpected  delay  has  occurred  in  the  publication  of 
the  Memoir.  It  was  prepared  with  an  intention  of 
prefixing  it  to  the  proposed  collection  of  the  Bishop's 
Posthumous  Works,  and  was  consequently  affected 
by  the  difficulties  connected  with  so  extensive  an 
undertaking.  This  circumstance  will  account  for  the 
delay  stated,  and  also  for  some  expressions  and  refe- 
rences which  will  be  found  in  the  text  and  notes  sug- 
gested by  the  expected  connection  of  the  Memoir  with 
those  works ;  and  which  it  has  not  been  thought  ne- 
cessary to  expunge,  though  the  Memoir  is  now  pub- 
lished separately. 

B.  W. 

Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  August  10,  1839. 


EMBELLISHMENTS. 


1.  Engraving  and  Portrait  of  Bishop  White  (taken 
in  1834),  from  the  original  Picture,  by  Inman,  in  the 
possession  of  the  Right  Reverend  George  W.  Doane, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  state  of  New  Jersey. 

2.  Fac-Simile  of  Bishop  White's  Handwriting — 
the  Record  of  Bishops  consecrated  by  him. 

3.  Engraving  of  Bishop  White's  Study,  from  the 
Original  Painting  by  Sartain. 


MEMOIR 


LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WHITE. 


MEMOIR 


LIFE    OF    BISHOP    WHITE. 


The  life  of  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  extended  to 
a  length  much  exceeding  the  period  usually  allowed 
to  man,  was  passed  in  the  retired  and  unostentatious 
performance  of  the  duties  of  his  sacred  profession  in 
the  same  city  and  parish.  No  great  variety  of  inci- 
dents, affecting  himself  individually,  can  therefore  be 
reasonably  expected.  But  there  are  still  circum- 
stances which  may  render  a  detail  of  his  principles 
and  conduct  through  life  interesting  to  every  reader ; 
but  especially  to  those  who  have  enjoyed  the  pleasure 
and  advantage  of  social  or  official  intercourse  with 
him.  To  these  the  interest  will  be  increased  by  the 
tender  and  respectful  feelings  associated  with  their 
recollections  of  him  :  and  to  all,  there  will  be  supplied 
sources  of  gratification  and  improvement  in  the  exhi- 
bition of  a  character  of  uncommon  excellence,  dignity 

B 


10  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

and  loveliness ;  and  in  a  history  of  the  part  which  the 
revered  possessor  of  it  was  led  to  take  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  his  country,  during  an  eventful  and  trying 
period;  and  more  particularly  in  the  concerns  of  an 
important  branch  of  the  Christian  Church;  in  reviv- 
ing, organizing  and  establishing  which,  after  it  had 
been  nearly  extinct  in  consequence  of  the  calamities 
caused  by  the  war  of  the  revolution,  he  was,  under 
Providence,  a  leading,  able  and  influential  agent ;  and 
which  he  lived  to  behold  in  a  state  of  prosperity  and 
stability  greater  than  his  most  sanguine  expectations 
anticipated. 

As  Bishop  White  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age, 
and  survived  all  those  intimately  acquainted  with  him 
in  early  life ;  and  as  no  remains  have  been  discovered 
of  any  correspondence  which  may  have  then  taken 
place;  it  would  have  been  difficult,  and  probably 
impracticable,  at  this  time,  to  obtain  more  than  a 
very  meagre  account  of  the  incidents  of  that  period 
of  his  existence.  Happily,  the  probability  of  the 
occurrence  of  such  difficulty  was  foreseen  by  his 
friend,  the  late  Bishop  Hobart;  at  whose  request  he 
reduced  to  writing,  in  a  letter  directed  to  that  gentle- 
man dated  in  September  1819,  a  brief  account  of  the 
events  of  his  life,  until  the  commencement  of  the  pro- 
ceedings for  organizing  the  Church,  after  the  peace  of 
1783.  From  that  letter,  together  with  some  additional 
statements  in  the  form  of  notes,  appended  to  a  copy 
of  it  retained  by  himself,  and  written  in  1830,  after 
the  death  of  Bishop'Hobart,  this  Memoir  of  the  period 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  11 

above  mentioned  will  be  almost  entirely  composed; 
only  a  few  facts  having  been  gleaned  from  other 
sources. 

The  letter  commences  wdth  this  characteristic  re- 
mark: ''A  few  years  ago  you  requested  of  me  to 
prepare  for  you  some  notices  of  the  most  material  cir- 
cumstances of  my  early  life.  Compliance  was  in- 
tended, but  has  been  delayed,  in  common  with  many 
things  which  may  be  done  at  any  time.  It  is  now 
undertaken,  with  a  protest  against  being  understood 
to  believe,  that  there  have  been  such  events  as  can 
make  up  a  volume  of  biography;  otherwise  than  by 
the  help  of  that  art  of  book-making,  which  has  been 
much  employed  of  late  years  on  private  history;  but 
the  exercise  of  which  I  should  be  sorry  to  foresee,  on 
a  life  of  so  little  variety  or  celebrity  as  mine." 

The  autobiography  of  a  man  so  distinguished  and 
beloved,  in  the  very  language  in  which  he  had  him- 
self thought  fit  to  clothe  it,  may  probably  be  eagerly 
desired.  But  it  has  not  been  deemed  proper  so  to 
publish  it,  in  consequence  of  his  own  expressed  wish 
that  it  should  not  be.  Nor  would  it  be  found  to  pos- 
sess an  attraction  equal  to  what  might  be  expected. 
A  characteristic  feature  in  the  Bishop's  disposition 
disqualified  him  for  the  task  of  writing  a  memoir  of 
himself  which  would  be  perused  with  lively  interest. 
The  feature  alluded  to  is  his  great  modesty,  and  strong 
aversion  from  every  thing  approaching  to  self-display; 
an  aversion  which  always  distinguished  him,  and 
seemed  even  to  increase  with  advancinof  agre.     The 


12  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

consequence  has  been,  that  while  the  incidents  im- 
mediately affecting  himself  are  related  with  brevity, 
and  in  very  simple  language,  those  affecting  the  va- 
rious contemporaries,  of  whom  he  has  taken  notice, 
are  detailed  in  a  more  full,  free  and  engaging  manner. 
Passages  of  the  latter  kind  will  be  transferred  very 
liberally  into  these  pages,  in  the  language  used  by  the 
Bishop  himself  The  others  will  be  employed  in  such 
a  way,  and  with  such  enlargements,  as  will  be  better 
adapted  to  exhibit  his  character,  and  the  spirit  and 
principles  by  which  he  was  governed. 

His  subsequent  life  was  so  identified  with  the 
general  history  of  the  Church  over  which  he  so  long 
presided,  as  to  warrant  a  full  detail  of  that  history 
since  the  revolution.  But  so  extensive  a  design  is 
little  suited  to  the  situation  and  duties  of  the  author, 
or  to  his  opportunities  of  collecting  the  materials, 
within  a  reasonable  period.  He  therefore  does  not 
profess  to  give  such  a  history.  The  history  of  our 
Church  will  be  only  so  far  introduced  as  may  be 
necessary  to  illustrate  the  talents  and  disposition  of 
the  Bishop;  his  useful  services;  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples on  which  he  acted,  and  the  steadiness  and 
consistency  with  which  he  maintained  and  pursued 
them. 

William  White  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  on  the 
24th  day  of  March,  the  last  day  of  the  year  1747,  old 
style,  and  corresponding  with  the  4th  of  April  1748, 
according  to  the  new  style.  His  father.  Colonel 
Thomas  White,  was  a  native  of  London;  but  having 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  13 

in  infancy  lost  his  father,  was  separated  from  his 
family,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  to  seek  his  fortune  in 
Maryland,  without  any  pecuniary  aid  or  outfit,  except 
an  apprentice  fee  of  one  hundred  guineas.  The  slen- 
derness  of  this  provision  was  a  consequence  of  his 
father's  having  dissipated  his  property,  and  died  at  an 
early  period  of  life,  leaving  his  wife  and  six  children 
(of  whom  Thomas  was  next  to  the  youngest)  in 
straitened  circumstances.  Thomas  was  bound  ap- 
prentice to  a  Mr  Stokes,  who  at  that  time  happened 
to  be  in  England,  and  was  clerk  of  the  county  of  Bal- 
timore, then  extending  to  the  Susquehanna.  The 
apprenticeship  took  place  under  a  belief  that  Mr 
Stokes  was  a  professional  lawyer;  which  was,  how- 
ever, a  mistake.  This  gentleman  his  apprentice  ac- 
companied to  Maryland,  and  on  the  expiration  of  the 
apprenticeship  became  his  deputy.  Having  purchased 
and  studied  law  books,  Mr  White  commenced  prac- 
tice in  the  legal  profession,  and  was  successful.  With 
his  gains  he  was  fortunate  in  purchasing  lands,  then 
cheap:  a  considerable  proportion  of  those  in  that 
country  remaining  vacant,  not  having  been  yet  taken 
up  from  tlie  proprietary  office.  He  had  the  advantage 
of  holding,  at  this  favourable  time,  the  office  of  sur- 
veyor of  the  county,  which,  with  other  county  offices, 
was  conferred  upon  him  by  Governor  Ogle.  He  was 
also  one  of  the  two  colonels  of  the  mihtia  of  the  county. 
With  Governor  Ogle  he  possessed  considerable  influ- 
ence; and  his  intercourse  with  that  gentleman  was 
followed  by  a  similar  one  with  the  succeeding  gover- 

B* 


14  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

nor,  Sharpe.  The  latter  was  twice  in  Philadelphia 
while  William  was  a  boy,  and  lodged  each  time  in 
Colonel  White's  house.  One  of  the  occasions  was  not 
long  after  Braddock's  defeat,  to  attend  a  meeting  of 
the  governors  of  certain  provinces :  the  other  was  on 
the  controversy  between  the  proprietaries  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Maryland,  concerning  the  boundaries  of 
their  provinces. 

At  an  early  period  of  life  Colonel  White  married 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Edward  Hall,  a  man  of  very 
extensive  property  in  Baltimore  county.  Some  of  the 
best  farms,  in  the  division  of  it  now  named  Harford, 
are  still  held  by  his  descendants.  Two  of  the  chil- 
dren of  this  marriage  lived  to  be  women;  of  whom 
one  died  single,  at  about  the  age  of  forty,  and  the  other 
married  her  cousin,  Mr  Aquila  Hall.  There  are  now- 
numerous  descendants  from  her  in  Harford  county. 

Colonel  White  removed  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
when  about  forty -two  years  of  age,  being  then  a 
widower,  and  two  years  after  married  Esther,  the 
widow  of  a  Mr  John  Newman.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Hewlings,  and  she  was  of  a  family  in  Burlington, 
New  Jersey;  left  in  straitened  circumstances,  but 
without  any  child.  Her  ancestors  of  that  name  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  west  Jersey,  under  the 
purchase  made  by  William  Penn,  before  the  settle- 
ment of  Pennsylvania.  Although  among  emigrants 
principally  of  the  Quaker  society,  they  were,  and  have 
been  all  along,  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  They  were 
reputable  in  the  middle  stations  of  life ;  but  the  name 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  15 

no  longer  exists  in  the  family,  except  in  an  individual 
instance,  though  there  are  many  descendants  from 
the  female  branches. 

The  only  children  of  Colonel  White,  by  this  second 
marriage,  were  William,  the  subject  of  this  Memoir, 
and  his  sister  Mary,  one  year  younger  than  he.  This 
lady  became  the  wife  of  Robert  Morris,  Esq.,  who, 
after  being  a  member  of  congress  under  the  articles 
of  confederation,  and  of  the  legislature  of  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  conducted,  with  distinguished  ability 
and  reputation,  the  financial  concerns  of  the  United 
States  during  the  revolutionary  war;  and  afterwards 
filled  the  office  of  senator,  in  congress,  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, under  the  existing  constitution.  Colonel  White 
died  in  September  1779,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 
His  widow  survived  him  until  the  last  day  of  the  year 
1790,  and  died  in  her  seventy-first  year.  Their  son 
thus  speaks  of  them,  in  his  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart : 
"  There  can  be  no  impropriety  in  my  here  bearing  of 
testimony  to  the  merits  of  my  parents.  My  father 
left  the  world  with  the  reputation  of  unsullied  integ- 
rity through  life;  and  I  think,  I  may  say  that,  he 
possessed  a  remarkably  correct  judgment  of  men  and 
things.  In  his  domestic  character  he  was  indulgent 
and  exemplary.  During  the  last  twenty-two  years  of 
his  life,  he  was  so  far  a  cripple,  in  consequence  of  a 
fall  from  a  carriage,  as  to  walk  on  tw^o  canes  with 
handles.  This  kept  him  out  of  all  society,  except 
such  as  could  be  had  at  his  own  hospitable  table  and 
fireside;  and,  except  in  afternoons,  of  some  of  the 


16  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

principal  gentlemen  of  the  city,  of  his  own  age,  who, 
in  those  days,  habitually  assembled  at  the  public  cof- 
fee-house, for  society  merely.  My  mother,  if  I  am 
not  misled  by  partiality,  possessed  an  excellent  under- 
standing, with  sincere,  but  unostentatious  piety."  In 
a  note  is  added:  "In  my  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart,  I 
said  the  less  concerning  my  honoured  mother,  as  she 
must  have  been  within  his  remembrance.  But  I 
ought  not  to  introduce  the  mention  of  her  in  this  note, 
without  the  acknowledgement  of  the  early  impressions 
on  my  young  mind  from  her  religious  instructions ; 
for  which  I  owe  gratitude  to  her  memory,  and  to  the 
grace  of  God  for  the  benefit  received  from  them." 

At  the  age  of  seven,  William  White  was  transferred 
from  the  school  of  a  mistress  to  the  English  school  of 
the  newly  erected  College  of  Philadelphia,  of  which 
his  father  was  a  trustee,  having  been  so  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  institution,  while  it  was  yet  only  an 
academy.  "The  master  of  the  school  was  Mr  Ebe- 
nezer  Kinnersley,  who  often  appears  in  the  early 
works  of  Dr  Franklin,  as  a  co-operator  with  him  in 
his  electrical  experiments."  When  about  ten  years 
old,  William  went  into  the  Latin  school  of  the  college, 
the  master  of  which  was  Mr  Paul  Jackson,  *'  a  man 
considered  as  possessed  of  a  fine  genius,  and  of  classi- 
cal attainments."  But  he  soon  after  left  the  school; 
which  proved  a  misfortune  to  his  young  pupil.  For 
his  successor,  Mr  John  Beveridge,  "a  thorough  gram- 
marian, with  little  else  to  recommend  him,"  found  it 
convenient  to  reduce  the  number  of  his  classes;  and 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  17 

in  consequence  that  of  William  White  was  elevated 
to  the  one  above  it;  passing  from  the  beginning  of  an 
easy  book  to  the  latter  part  of  a  difficult  one,  to  boys 
of  their  standing.  "I  record  this  incident,"  says  the 
Bishop,  in  his  letter,  "for  the  purpose  of  censuring 
this,  and  every  similar  expedient,  for  the  hastening  of 
boys  through  grammar  schools;  which  is  frequent." 
When  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  his  class  was 
examined  for  college  by  the  provost,  and  the  vice- 
provost.  Three  were  rejected,  but  he  was  not  one  of 
them.  Notwithstanding  which,  he  did  not  then  enter 
a  college  class,  in  consequence  of  his  father's  prohibi- 
tion. This  was,  at  the  time,  felt  by  him  to  be  humili- 
ating, although  softened  by  the  permission,  granted  at 
his  father's  request,  that  he  should  be  with  the  head 
class  in  the  Latin  school  in  one  part  of  the  day  only, 
and  spend  the  other  part  in  the  school  in  which  arith- 
metic was  taught,  and  in  which,  usually,  one  hour  of 
the  day  only  was  spent  by  that  class.  But  he  after- 
wards reflected  upon  it  with  satisfaction,  as  one  among 
the  many  instances  which  he  recollected  of  the  sound 
discretion  of  his  father,  and  was  persuaded  that,  had 
it  not  been  for  this  postponement,  he  would  not  have 
gone  through  college  with  reputation.  And  he  re- 
marks, "there  have  since  occurred  frequent  occasions 
of  comparing  the  conduct  of  my  father  with  that  of 
others,  much  to  their  disadvantage."  In  the  next 
year  he  entered  college,  in  which  he  continued  three 
years,  and  passed  through  the  various  studies  with 
reputation.     He  left  it  just  when  he  had  completed 


18  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

his  seventeenth  year :  his  examination,  previous  to 
graduating,  being  finished  on  his  birth-day,  in  1765, 
although  the  commencement  did  not  take  place  until 
a  month  after. 

During  his  collegiate  course,  the  provost  and  vice- 
provost  were  Dr  William  Smith  and  Dr  Francis  Alli- 
son; but,  at  the  juncture  of  his  entering  college,  the 
former  embarked  for  England,  "  on  his  well  conducted 
and  successful  mission  of  collecting  for  it;"  and  his 
place  was  supplied,  during  two  years,  by  Mr  (after- 
wards Dr)  Ewing:  but  the  provost  returned  in  the 
beginning  of  the  third  year.  Of  Dr  Smith  and  Dr 
Ewing,  only  the  following  remark  occurs  in  the  letter 
to  Bishop  Hobart.  "  As  the  talents  of  these  reverend 
gentlemen  are  well  known  by  subsequent  occurrences ; 
and  as  they  were  living  for  several  years  after  your  ar- 
rival at  the  age  of  manhood,  they  have  no  need  of  any 
thing  from  my  pen,  to  inform  you  of  their  characters." 
Of  Dr  Allison,  he  remarks  :  "  The  vice-provost  being 
long  since  deceased,  and  there  being  few  remaining 
who  were  personally  acquainted  with  his  merits,  I  avail 
myself  of  the  opportunity  of  expressing  the  opinion, 
that  in  addition  to  his  unquestionable  ability  in  his 
department,  he  was  a  man  of  sterling  integrity,  of  real 
and  rational  piety  in  the  Presbyterian  communion,  of 
which  he  was  a  minister,  and  singularly  liberal 
minded.  His  only  visible  fault  was  proneness  to 
anger,  which,  however,  was  always  accompanied  by 
generosity  and  placability."  One  of  the  notes  added 
to  the  said  letter,  in  1830,  relates  to  Dr  Smith,  and  is 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  19 

here  inserted.  "It  may  seem  to  require  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  that  neither  here,  nor  in  the  many  places 
following,  recording  transactions  in  which  the  Rev. 
Dr  Smith  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  there  should  be 
said  so  little  concerning  either  his  agency  or  his  cha- 
racter. He  was  provost  of  the  college  when  I  entered 
the  lowest  school  of  its  academy,  at  the  age  of  seven, 
and  when  I  left  the  seminary,  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 
Besides  other  causes  of  frequent  intercourse,  I  was 
connected  with  him  as  a  trustee  of  the  colleore,  from 
the  year  1774.  I  also  united  with  him  in  the  oppo- 
sition made  to  the  act  of  assembly  of  1779,*  and  in 
his  subsequent  endeavours  for  the  repeal  of  it;  which, 
but  for  his  labours  and  perseverance,  would  probably 
never  have  been  effected,  notwithstanding  the  justice 
of  the  cause.  His  talents  are  in  no  need  of  my  recom- 
mendation ;  and  had  they  been  devoted  to  literature, 
and  not  too  much  directed  to  politics,  and  to  specula- 
tions in  land,  there  is  no  knowing  the  measure  of  ce- 
lebrity which  might  be  thought  too  great  to  be  attained 
to.  Why,  then,  the  reserve  in  the  letter?  It  was 
owing  to  this.  In  the  beginning  of  the  organizing  of 
our  Church,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  oppose  myself 
to  his  being  recommended  by  the  general  convention 
to  the  episcopacy,  to  which  he  had  been  elected  by 
the  convention  of  Maryland ;  and  to  me  his  failure  was 

*  By  this  act  the  estate  and  powers  of  the  trustees  of  the  College  of 
Philadelphia  were  taken  from  them,  and  vested  in  the  trustees  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  thereby  erected.  The  subject  will  be  here- 
after explained. 


20  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

principally  owing.  My  reasons  are  not  detailed,  partly 
because  there  has  been  no  reproach  cast  on  me  on  that 
account,  and  partly  because,  in  our  frequent  collisions, 
I  ought  not  to  claim  the  commendation  of  an  impartial 
narrator.  During  his  subsequent  years,  we  were  on 
very  amicable  terms;  and  he  manifested  his  confi- 
dence in  me  by  associating  me  with  his  brother,  and 
with  Jasper  Yeates,  Esq.,  in  a  trusteeship  of  certain 
lands,  conveyed  to  us  by  a  deed  of  gift  in  favour  of 
his  younger  daughter.  In  his  will  he  bequeathed  to 
me  a  ring." 

On  leaving  college  the  final  choice  of  his  profession 
engaged  William  White's  attention,  and  he  was  led 
to  decide  in  favour  of  the  ministry. 

It  has  been  thought  that  the  bent  of  the  genius, 
and  the  probable  future  pursuits  in  life,  are  sometimes 
indicated  by  the  amusements  most  attractive  in  early 
youth.  A  few  circumstances  of  that  nature,  occurring 
while  he  was  very  young,  have  been  communicated 
to  me.  They  were  repeatedly  related  by  a  lady  who 
was  his  intimate  playmate  from  a  very  early  age,  and 
about  a  year  and  a  half  older  than  he  was ;  a  daughter 
of  Mr  Stephen  Pascal,*  a  member  of  the  society  off 
Friends,  residing   in    the   house    adjoining   Colonel 

*  Afterwards  married  to  Mr  Levi  HoUingsworth,  and  the  mother  of 
my  brother-in-law.  She  died  only  a  few  years  before  the  Bishop.  The 
circumstances  were  communicated  by  Mrs  Susan  Eckard. 

f  Dr  White  was  much  esteemed  and  beloved  by  the  members  of  that 
society.  After  he  became  a  bishop,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  some  of 
them,  even  of  the  most  plain  and  strict,  to  speak  of  him  as  "  our  good 
bishop." 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  21 

White's.  That  lady  bore  testimony  to  his  early  piety, 
and  was  wont  to  say,  when  she  was  herself  advanced 
in  life,  "Billy  White"  (so  she  continued  to  call  him) 
"was  born  a  bishop.  I  never  could  persuade  him  to 
play  any  thing  but  church.  He  would  tie  his  own  or 
my  apron  round  his  neck,  for  a  gown,  and  stand  be- 
hind a  low  chair,  which  he  called  his  pulpit ;  I,  seated 
before  him  on  a  little  bench,  was  the  congregation ; 
and  he  always  preached  to  me  about  being  good. 
One  day,"  she  added,  "  I  heard  him  crying,  and  saw 
him  running  into  the  street,  and  the  nurse-maid  after 
him,  calling  to  him  to  come  back  and  be  dressed. 
He  refused,  saying,  I  do  not  want  to  go  to  dancing- 
school,  and  I  won't  be  dressed,  for  I  don't  think  it  is 
good  to  learn  to  dance.  And  that  was  the  only  time 
I  ever  knew  Billy  White  to  be  a  naughty  boy."  The 
lady  who  gave  me  these  anecdotes,  and  in  whose  own 
language  nearly  they  are  related,  added  that  she  had 
the  pleasure  of  repeating  these  reminiscences  of  his 
childhood  to  the  Bishop :  they  amused  him ;  and  he 
told  her  that  his  mother,  finding  that  he  v^as  so  averse 
to  learning  to  dance,  gave  it  up;  "though,"  he  said, 
"  I  am  by  no  means  opposed  to  others  learning,  if  they 
like  to  dance." 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  his  final  determi- 
nation, after  leaving  college,  to  enter  into  the  ministry, 
will  be  most  satisfactorily  stated  in  his  own  language. 
They  manifest  the  reflecting  mind,  calm  and  sound 
judgment,  and  nice  sense  of  moral  and  religious  obli- 
gation, remarkable  at  so  early  an  age,  and  which 
c 


22  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

always  distinguished  him  through  every  period  of  his 
life.  And  they  comprehend  several  interesting  facts, 
relative  to  the  state  of  religion  in  this  country,  at  the 
time. 

"  It  may  be  recorded  with  truth,"  he  observes,  "  but 
let  it  be  with  humility,  and  with  sorrow  for  innume- 
rable failures,  and  for  the  having  fallen  far  short  of 
what  was  due  to  the  advantages  of  early  years,  that 
there  is  not  recollected  any  portion  of  my  life,  during 
which  I  was  altogether  regardless  of  the  obligations  of 
religion,  or  neglectful  of  the  duty  of  prayer.  But  in 
about  the  middle  of  my  sixteenth  year,  there  occurred 
some  circumstances,  particularly  the  decease  of  an 
amiable  young  lady,  of  my  own  age,  but  in  whom  I 
had  not  felt  any  further  interest  than  as  an  acquaint- 
ance of  my  sister.  This  event  gave  to  my  mind  a 
tendency  to  religious  exercises  and  inquiries ;  which 
were  also  promoted  by  its  being  understood  that  a 
visit  was  to  be  expected  from  the  Rev.  George  Whit- 
field. His  former  visits  had  been  principally  before 
my  birth ;  and  the  last  of  them  had  been  when  I  was 
too  young  to  have  retained  the  recollection  of  his  per- 
son. His  coming,  at  this  time,  caused  religion  to  be 
more  than  commonly  a  subject  of  conversation;  and 
this  added  to  the  existing  tendency  of  my  mind.  I 
heard  him  with  great  delight,  in  his  wonderful  elocu- 
tion ;  although  informed  that  it  was  greatly  impaired 
by  the  state  of  his  health,  which  evidently  affected  his 
throat,  and  had  swelled  his  person,  reported  to  have 
been  naturally  slender.     Under  this  disadvantage,  his 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  23 

force  of  emphasis,  and  the  melodies  of  his  tones  and 
cadences,  exceeded  what  I  have  ever  witnessed  in  any 
other  person.  It  is  a  proof  how  much  depends  on  the 
mechanical  part  of  us,  and  on  sympathy  excited  by 
occasional  incidents,  that  although  the  preaching  of 
Mr  Whitfield  must  have  had  the  same  general  com- 
plexion, and  been  at  least  as  well  considered  as  in  for- 
mer years,  there  was  nothing  seen  under  it  of  those 
agitations  which  were  still  subjects  of  report.  Whe- 
ther it  were  owing  to  this  cause,  or  to  my  being  other- 
wise fortified,  I  found  myself  in  no  danger  of  being 
one  of  his  converts.  The  first  consideration  which 
weakened  his  authority  with  me  was,  a  comparison  of 
his  obligations  assumed  at  ordination,  with  his  utter 
disregard  of  them ;  a  subject  new  to  me  when  his  case 
presented  it.  Subsequently  to  this  period,  when  I 
considered  the  questions  between  the  divines  of  the 
Church  of  England  and  those  of  the  Puritan  separa- 
tion, although  I  disapproved  of  the  scrupulousness  of 
the  latter,  not  without  lamenting  the  unbending  atti- 
tude of  the  former,  the  relaxing  of  which  would  pro- 
bably have  broken  the  party,  by  detaching  the  honest 
from  the  factious;  yet  there  appeared  respectability  in 
the  plea  of  conscientious  refusal.  The  impression  has 
been  often  since  revived,  to  the  disadvantage  of  some 
who  have  intruded  within  our  pale,  without  such  a 
plea  for  their  irregularity. 

"That  Mr  Whitfield  had  some  expedient,  reconcil- 
ing his  mind  to  his  deviations,  cannot  reasonably  be 
doubted.     But  in  consideration  of  what  he  has  said  in 


24  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

print,  of  his  having  been  carried  away  by  impressions 
and  feehngs,  it  is  not  uncharitable  to  class  his  case 
among  the  many  in  which  enthusiasm,  consistently 
with  general  good  intention,  leads  to  results  not  con- 
sistent with  moral  obligation.  Of  the  effect,  in  former 
times,  of  ,his  violation  of  the  order  of  the  Church, 
there  was  evidence  in  the  many  families  who  were 
known  to  have  been  drawn  from  it  by  becoming  fol- 
lowers of  his  ministry.  Facts  also  were  related,  which 
had  a  tendency  to  caution  against  the  delusions  of 
sudden  impressions  and  violent  agitations;  it  being 
remembered  of  many,  that  they  had  been  subjects  of 
such  extravagances,  without  any  lasting  effect,  either 
on  their  religious  state  or  on  their  moral  conduct ;  and 
of  many  others,  that  they  had  been  similarly  affected, 
and  continued  to  be  professors  of  religion,  but  of  such 
a  sort,  as  not  to  induce  in  me  an  inclination  to  resem- 
ble them.  These  thins^s  did  not  hinder  the  observing: 
of  some  persons,  who  had  received  their  first  impres- 
sions under  the  display  of  the  extraordinary  elocution 
of  Mr  Whitfield.  That  this  was  the  engine  by  which 
he  wrought  such  wonders,  must  be  evident  to  all  who 
have  perused  his  printed  sermons.  Of  his  disinter- 
estedness, and  of  his  generous  affections,  there  is  here 
entertained  no  doubt. 

"He  made  another  visit  to  this  country  in  the  year 
1770.  When  he  was  on  his  way  from  Philadelphia  to 
Boston,  late  in  the  summer,  he  had  been  prevailed  on 
to  promise  to  cross  from  Bristol  to  Burlington,  and  to 
preach  there.  I  happened  to  be  in  the  latter,  and  staying 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  25 

in  the  house  of  a  relative,  when  it  was  announced  that 
Mr  Whitfield  was  at  a  tavern  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  He  was  expected  to  be  escorted  by  my  rela- 
tive. I  went  with  him;  and  we  returned  in  a  boat 
with  Mr  Whitfield  and  his  company.  He  preached 
to  the  assembled  citizens,  in  the  front  of  the  court- 
house, and  afterwards  dined  at  the  house  of  my  rela- 
tive. During  dinner,  he  was  almost  the  only  speaker, 
as  was  said  to  be  common ;  all  present  being  disposed 
to  listen.  This  narrative  has  been  given  for  the  in- 
troduction of  one  of  his  speeches;  which  may  be  seen 
to  show  a  great  change  from  his  early  track  of  senti- 
ment. The  speech  was :  '  In  Heaven  I  expect  to  see 
Charles  the  First,  Oliver  Cromwell  and  Archbishop 
Laud,  singing  halleluiahs  together.'  Mr  Whitfield 
would  not  have  said  this  in  the  days  in  which  he  in- 
veighed against  Archbishop  Tillotson  from  the  pulpit. 
It  was  but  a  few  weeks  after,  and  a  few  days  before 
my  embarking  for  England,  on  the  15th  of  October, 
when  tidings  reached  Philadelphia  of  the  death  of  this 
celebrated  man,  in  Massachusetts." 

In  one  of  the  appended  notes,  the  Bishop  adds:  "It 
has  been  urged,  in  favour  of  the  animal  feelings  ex- 
cited by  the  preaching  of  Mr  Whitfield,  and  of  other 
preachers  of  the  same  stamp,  that  however  many  the 
subsequent  declensions,  a  portion  of  the  converts  are 
reclaimed  from  sin,  and  continue  faithful.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  expediency  of  any  specified  mean  of  con- 
version should  rest,  not  on  this  ground,  but  on  Scrip- 
ture, in  alliance  with  the  dictates  of  reason  and  of 


26  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

prudence.  But  the  fact  being  presumed,  before  ad- 
mission of  the  inference  there  should  be  a  probable 
estimate  of  the  number  of  persons,  who  are  brought  to 
a  religious  state  and  a  suitable  life,  by  a  preaching  not 
attended  by  the  extravagances  referred  to,  and  whom 
the  other  would  rather  repel ;  and  further,  how  many, 
after  having  been  captivated  by  this,  and  after  having 
traced  it  to  its  causes  in  sympathy  and  animal  or- 
ganization, resolve  all  religious  feeling  into  delusion, 
and  live  and  die  impenitent.  So  far  as  my  personal 
observation  extends,  what  are  sometimes  called  revi- 
vals would  suffer  much  by  the  comparison," 

Let  it  be  recollected  that  the  personal  observation 
here  mentioned,  had  extended  through  a  life  of  eighty- 
two  years;  and  that  his  situation  during  the  greater 
part  of  this  period,  afforded  him  advantageous  means 
of  correct  observation.  The  sentiments  early  im- 
pressed upon  the  Bishop's  mind,  on  the  subjects  no- 
ticed, were  consistently  maintained  by  him  through 
life,  and  received  increased  confirmation  from  his  long 
experience  and  attention  to  human  nature. 

Before  his  graduation,  it  was  expected  that  his  views 
would  be  directed  to  the  ministry.  This  circum- 
stance, even  then,  and  still  more  afterwards,  drew  to 
him  the  kind  attention  of  the  clergy ;  particularly  of 
Dr  Peters  and  Mr  Duche,  the  rector  and  one  of  the 
assistant  ministers  of  Christ  Church  and  St  Peter's,  to 
the  former  of  which  his  family  belonged.  The  only 
means  of  instruction  and  direction  in  the  proper  course 
of  study,  then  possessed  by  candidates  for  orders  in 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  27 

America,  were  furnished  by  the  voluntary  private  aid 
of  the  clergy;  and  what  advantages,  in  tjiis  respect, 
were  enjoyed  by  William  White,  will  be  understood 
from  his  own  statement. 

"  Although  I  shall  always  remember  those  two 
gentlemen"  (Dr  Peters  and  Mr  Duche)  "  with  respect 
and  affection,  on  account  of  their  merits  and  of  their 
kindness  to  me ;  yet  there  was  in  each  of  them  a  sin- 
gularity of  religious  character,  which  lessened  the 
profit  of  an  intercourse  with  them. 

"  Dr  Peters  was  a  native  of  England,  and  had  come 
to  this  country  nearly  forty  years  before  the  time  now 
spoken  of  He  was  then  a  young  clergyman,  of  a  re- 
spectable family  in  Liverpool,  of  an  excellent  educa- 
tion, and  of  polished  manners.  It  was  said  that  his 
acquaintance  had  been  cultivated  by  the  genteelest 
families  in  the  city ;  but  that,  being  no  favourite  with 
the  then  rector  of  Christ  Church,  the  Rev.  Archibald 
Cummings,  he  accepted  from  the  proprietary  govern- 
ment the  secretaryship  of  the  land  office,  which  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  considerable  fortune.  He  was  also 
secretary  to  a  succession  of  governors ;  and  continued 
to  be  of  the  governor's  council  until  his  decease.  At 
an  age  turned  of  sixty,  he  gave  up  his  lucrative  offices, 
and  became  more  serious  in  religious  concerns,  than 
at  any  former  period  of  his  life;  although  his  morals 
had  been  correct,  his  attendance  on  public  worship 
constant  and  solemn,  and  his  preaching  occasional. 
Soon  after,  the  rectorship  of  the  church  becoming  va- 
cant by  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Dr  Jenney,  the  sue- 


28  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

cessor  of  Mr  Cummings,  Mr  Peters*  was  chosen  to  it. 
The  singularity  alluded  to,  was  his  adopting  of  the 
notions  of  Jacob  Behmen  and  William  Law ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  his  sermons  were  not  always  under- 
stood. In  social  discourse,  he  could  be  exceedingly 
entertaining,  on  any  ordinary,  and  on  any  literary 
subject,  especially  if  it  regarded  classical  or  historical 
learning.  Yet  from  the  moment  of  turning  the  con- 
versation to  religion,  he  was  in  the  clouds. 

"  Mr  Duche  was  of  a  respectable  family  in  this  city. 
He  was  in  the  first  class  of  graduates  of  our  college ; 
and  having  finished  his  studies  in  it  with  reputation, 
spent  some  time  in  the  English  University  of  Cam- 
bridge. A  remarkably  fine  voice  and  graceful  action 
helped  to  render  him  very  popular  as  a  preacher.  His 
disposition  also  was  amiable.  The  greatest  infirmity 
attending  him  was  a  tendency  to  change  in  religious 
sentiment.  A  few  years  after  his  ministerial  settle- 
ment, he  took  to  the  mysticism  of  Jacob  Behmen  and 
William  Law.  From  this  he  became  detached  for  a 
time ;  and  his  preaching,  which  was  more  zealous  than 
either  before  or  after,  seemed  to  me  to  border  on  Cal- 
vinism ;  although,  probably,  he  was  not  aware  of,  or 
designed  it.  In  this  interval,  my  personal  intercourse 
with  him  began ;  and  having  one  day  asked  of  him  the 
loan  of  Law's  works,  then  much  talked  of,  I  received 
a  refusal ;  the  reason  given  being  the  danger  he  had 
formerly  been  in  from  the  reading  of  these  books.    He 

*     On  the  6th  of  December  1762.     He  received  his  degree  of  D.D, 
from  the  University  of  Oxford,  near  the  close  of  the  year  1770. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  29 

relapsed,  however,  to  the  theory  of  the  mystics,  and 
continaed  in  it  until  the  troubles  which  drove  him 
from  his  native  country.  In  England  he  became  a 
convert  to  the  opinions  of  Baron  Swedenborg ;  and  in 
these  he  continued  until  his  decease.  There  can  be 
no  impropriety  in  stating  this  property  of  the  charac- 
ter of  my  deceased  friend ;  it  being  known  to  many 
still  living,  and  currently  spoken  of  by  them.  In  re- 
collecting the  pleasure  taken  in  his  conversation,  I 
think  myself  singularly  happy  in  not  having  been 
drawn  by  it  from  what  then,  and  ever  since,  I  have 
considered  as  correct  views  of  our  holy  religion." 

Besides  the  friendly  aid  of  Dr  Peters  and  Mr  Duche, 
and  his  familiar  intercourse  with  them,  he  met  with 
another  assistance  in  his  preparation,  from  which  he 
thought  that  he  derived  much  benefit,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  four  other  youths  designed  for  the  ministry. 
This  was  a  theological  exercise,  instituted  on  the  pro- 
posal of  the  Rev.  Dr  Smith,  the  provost  of  the  college, 
of  which  he  gives  this  account.  "During  three  suc- 
cessive seasons,  and  within  the  space  of  a  few  months 
of  each,  on  Sunday  evenings,  these  exercises  were 
performed  in  the  hall  of  the  old  college,  then  not  much 
less  in  size  than  either  of  our  two  churches,  and  in  the 
audience  of  numerous  and  respectable  assemblies. 
The  groundwork  of  what  we  wrote  and  delivered  was 
the  history  of  the  Bible.  On  each  evening  two  of  our 
company  delivered  their  compositions,  previously  cor- 
rected by  the  provost,  who  afterwards  enlarged  on  the 
subjects.     Although  this  was  far  from  being  a  com.- 


30  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

plete  course  of  ecclesiastical  studies,  it  called  to  a 
variety  of  reading,  and  to  a  concentration  of  what  was 
read.  There  was  also  use  in  the  introduction  to  pub- 
lic speaking.  The  young  men  with  whom  I  was  as- 
sociated, were  Thomas  Coombe,  who  will  be  spoken 
of  hereafter;  Thomas  Hopkinson,  brother  of  the  late 
Judge  Francis  Hopkinson,  and  since  settled  as  a  cler- 
gyman and  deceased  in  Maryland  ;  John  Montgomery 
deceased,  who  also  settled  in  Maryland,  but  went  to 
England  during  the  revolutionary  war,  and  obtained 
a  parish  from  the  bishop  of  Hereford ;  and  Joseph 
Hutchins,*  whose  long  residence  in  this  state,  and 
late  return  to  Barbadoes,  his  native  country,  are  known 
to  you." 

From  the  time  of  his  graduation  until  his  departure 
for  England,  he  profitably  employed  himself  in  atten- 
tion to  sacred  and  other  literature.  Of  his  progress 
and  attainments,  however,  he  appears  to  have  had  a 
more  humble,  opinion  than  was  formed  by  others,  and 
than  the  extent  of  his  information,  both  in  theology 
and  general  literature,  might  have  justified.  "  That 
portion  of  my  life,"  this  is  his  own  modest  language, 
"is  now  looked  back  on,  as  what  might  have  been 
much  more  improved  by  literary  cultivation,  and  thus 
have  prevented  the  deficiencies  which  have  been  the 
unavoidable  result  of  a  multiplicity  of  concerns." 

*  Afterwards  the  Rev.  Dr  Hutching.  He  subsequently  returned  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  died  in  the  year  1833.  He  was  about  eighteen 
months  older  than  Dr  White.  Their  friendship  began  in  the  grammar 
school,  and  continued  without  interruption  until  his  death. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  31 

He  embarked  for  England  in  October  1770,  with 
recommendations  for  holy  orders.  Dr  Richard  Ter- 
rick  was  then  the  bishop  of  London,  and,  of  course, 
diocesan  of  all  the  Episcopal  churches  in  America. 
After  being  examined  by  this  bishop's  chaplain,  Mr 
White  was  ordained  a  deacon,  under  letters  dimissory, 
by  Dr  Young,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  at  the  ember  sea- 
son, in  December,  and  in  the  royal  chapel,  of  which 
the  bishop  of  London  was  dean.  He  continued  in 
England  about  a  year  and  a  half,  until  he  attained  the 
age  requisite  for  priest's  orders.  It  was  not  then 
usual  for  American  candidates,  who  depended  on  the 
English  bishops  for  ordination,  to  leave  their  own 
country  for  that  purpose,  until  they  were  of  the  age 
required  for  their  being  ordained  priests,  that  they 
might,  by  one  voyage  only,  obtain  both  deacon's  and 
priest's  orders  without  material  delay;  the  latter  being 
conferred,  in  such  cases,  very  soon  after  the  former. 
The  reason  for  Mr  White's  going  so  long  previously, 
was  his  desire,  partly  of  being  somewhat  familiarized 
to  the  country,  and  partly  of  spending  some  time  with 
two  aunts,  the  sisters  of  his  father.  The  incidents 
which  happened,  and  the  observations  which  he  made, 
during  his  continuance  in  England,  will  be  most  in- 
teresting as  detailed  by  himself 

"  My  father  had  kept  up  an  affectionate  correspon- 
dence with  his  family  in  England;  and  it  is  necessary 
to  an  account  of  myself,  to  give  a  few  facts  relative  to 
them.  His  three  sisters,  after  losing  their  mother,  and 
two  of  them  having  lost  their  husbands,  the  eldest 


32  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

having  never  been  married,  lived  chiefly  on  jointures, 
and  on  annuities  purchased  by  their  profits  in  busi- 
ness, at  Twickenham,  in  a  genteel  competency.  The 
greater  part  of  what  they  had  in  their  power  to  leave, 
became  mine,  and  amounted  to  about  three  thousand 
pounds  sterling.  One  of  the  sisters,  Mrs  Midwinter, 
died  within  a  year  of  my  going  to  England.  I  was 
received  by  the  survivors,  Mrs  White  and  Mrs  Weeks, 
as  a  son.  They  were  excellent  women,  which  was 
also  the  character  of  their  deceased  sister..  The  eldest, 
in  particular,  has  been  ever  since  considered  by  me 
as  one  of  the  finest  women  I  ever  knew.  With  an 
excellent  understanding,  exemplary  piety,  and  great 
dignity  of  manners,  she  possessed  the  vivacity  of 
youth  at  above  the  age  of  seventy. 

"In  consequence  of  my  father's  recollections  of  his 
boyhood,  and  in  order  to  make  me  cautious  on  politi- 
cal subjects,  he  apprized  me  that  I  might  probably 
find  his  sisters  of  the  description  of  people  who  were 
friends  of  the  family  and  of  the  claim  of  the  Stuarts. 
For  although  he  had  been  put  to  a  grammar  school  in 
St  Alban's,  eighteen  miles  from  London,  he  remem- 
bered sundry  incidents  to  the  above  purpose.  Among 
them,  was  his  mother's  taking  of  him  to  Newgate,  to 
visit  a  clergyman  confined  there  as  dangerous  to  the 
ofovernment.  He  was  a  Mr  Howell,  the  author  of  a 
'  History  of  the  Bible;'  formerly  a  book  in  vogue,  but 
now  superseded  by  the  later  work  of  Stackhouse. 
After  a  while  familiarity  banished  reserve  on  the  sub- 
ject of  politics,  when  I  learned  from  these  ladies  that 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  33 

they  had  been  educated  in  the  principles  of  Jacobit- 
ism,  but  had  long  given  up  the  cause  as  desperate ; 
the  readier  on  account  of  their  respect  for  the  personal 
character  of  the  present  king.  I  did  not  fail  to  ac- 
knowledge to  them,  that  both  their  brother  and  his 
son,  although  neither  of  them  had  ever  entered  zea- 
lously into  political  party,  were  attached  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  British  constitution  as  confirmed,  not 
introduced,  by  the  revolution  of  1688. 

"  During  my  stay  in  England,  I  was  treated  by  my 
aunts  with  truly  parental  affection.  I  had  lodgings 
in  tow^n,  but  spent  a  considerable  proportion  of  my 
time  with  them  in  Twickenham ;  where  I  took  plea- 
sure, not  only  in  the  society  of  an  agreeable  circle  of 
friends,  to  which  I  was  admitted  in  that  earthly  para- 
dise, but  in  rambles  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  in 
beholding  what  the  old  vicar  of  the  place,  the  Rev. 
George  Costard,  who  pointed  them  out  to  me  in  our 
walks,  called  classic  ground.  He  was  a  very  learned 
man,  and  had  been  a  celebrated  instructor,  when  fellow 
of  Wadham  College,  in  Oxford.  In  the  library  of  this 
city  there  is  a  small  tract  of  his  on  some  points  in 
astronomy. 

"  While  in  England,  I  made  several  journeys  to  dif- 
ferent parts  of  it.  The  longest  of  them  was  a  range 
of  about  six  hundred  miles,  with  a  friend  from  my 
very  early  years,  Mr  John  Benezet;  the  most  distant 
counties  of  our  tour  being  Lancashire,  as  far  as  Liver- 
pool, and  Derbyshire,  where  we  visited  what  are  called 
its  wonders,  which  are  described  in  books.  Not  far 
.  D 


34  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

from  them  are  Shenstone's  famous  Leasowes,  and 
Lord  Lyttleton's  as  famous  Hagley  Park;  both  of 
which  we  saw  with  very  great  delight.  We  also 
visited,  near  Manchester,  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater's 
coal  pits,  with  his  wonderful  bridge  over  the  river 
Irwell;  and,  on  our  return  to  London,  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire's  magnificent  seat  of  Chatsworth. 

"The  most  interesting  of  my  excursions  was  to 
Oxford  and  to  Bath,  in  May  1771.  In  each  of  them, 
my  stay  was  between  two  and  three  weeks.  In  the 
preceding  holidays  of  Christmas,  I  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  a  Rev.  Mr  (since  Dr)  Burroughs,  a  fel- 
low of  Magdalen  College ;  and  with  a  Mr  Robearts 
Carr,  a  student  of  Worcester  College,  of  about  my  own 
age,  and  designed  for  the  ministry,  into  which  he 
entered  before  my  leaving  of  England.  With  his 
elder  brother,  the  Rev.  Colston  Carr,  I  had  previously 
become  much  acquainted ;  there  having  been  an  heredi- 
tary friendship  between  the  families.  He  is  still  living, 
and  is  the  father  of  Sir  Henry  Carr,  who  distinguished 
himself  in  Spain,  under  General  Moore,  and  was  since 
married  to  the  widow  of  the  murdered  prime  minis- 
ter, Mr  Percival.  The  Rev.  Colston  Carr  was  vicar 
of  Feltham,  near  to  Twickenham;  and  was  presented, 
some  years  after,  by  Bishop  Terrick,  who  had  been  a 
friend  of  his  deceased  father,  to  the  parish  of  Eling. 
His  younger  brother,  and  the  said  Mr  Burroughs, 
were  of  great  service  to  me  in  Oxford.  The  former 
lodged  me  in  his  college,  that  of  Worcester,  in  the 
chambers  of  a  friend  then  absent.     It  would  be  super- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  35 

fluous  to  give  you  an  account  of  this  wonderful  col- 
lection of  colleges,  of  which  the  most  minute  particu- 
lars are  in  books.  But  let  it  be  mentioned,  that 
besides  the  sight  of  all  the  objects  of  curiosit}?',  not 
only  in  Oxford,  but  in  the  most  magnificent  seats  in 
the  neighbourhood,  the  most  splendid  of  which  are 
Blenheim,  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  and 
Stowe,  that  of  Earl  Temple,  it  is  a  source  of  even  pre- 
sent gratification,  to  have  had  a  sight  of  characters,  of 
whom  some  were  then,  and  others  have  become  since, 
illustrious.  From  the  said  Mr  Costard  I  carried  a 
letter  to  Dr  Kennicot,  a  canon  of  Christ  Church  Col- 
lege, who  was  then  making  progress  in  his  great 
work,  since  given  to  the  world.  He  was  very  polite 
to  me,  and  presented  to  me  a  copy  of  his  Collections, 
as  far  as  they  were  then  made.  One  evening,  on  the 
then  favourite  walk  of  Merton  College,  there  was 
pointed  out  to  me,  as  a  rising  character,  a  Dr  Moore, 
then  also  a  canon  of  Christ  Church ;  and  this  was  the 
gentleman  who,  about  fifteen  years  afterward,  conse- 
crated me  a  bishop. 

'*  The  morning  after  my  arrival  in  Oxford,  Mr  Ro- 
bearts  Carr  took  me  to  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr 
Swinton,  the  keeper  of  the  archives  of  the  university, 
to  whom  I  carried  a  letter  from  Mr  Costard.  We 
were  told  by  a  servant,  that  Mr  Swinton  had  gone  to 
St  Mary's,  the  university  church,  to  the  visitation. 
My  friend  confessed  that  he  had  forgotten  the  occasion, 
and  proposed  our  going  to  hear  the  bishop's  charge. 
He  was  the  celebrated  Dr  Lowth.     We  entered  the 


36  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

church  soon  after  he  had  begun  and  was  proceeding 
to  a  commendation  of  the  character  of  Archbishop 
Seeker,  who  had  died  since  the  last  charge,  and  who 
had  preceded  the  speaker  in  his  diocese.  In  the  fol- 
lowing winter,  I  was  present  at  the  same  bishop's 
anniversary  sermon  before  the  Society  for  Propagat- 
ing the  Gospel.  And  fifteen  years  afterward,  I  visited 
him  under  the  decay  of  his  great  powers;  he  being 
then  bishop  of  London. 

"Dining  on  a  Sunday  in  Worcester  College,  I  was 
asked  by  a  young  clergyman  who  sat  near  me,  a  Mr 
Walker,  whether  I  took  pleasure  in  sacred  music.  On 
being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  proposed  our 
going  to  the  chapel  of  Magdalen  College.  We  went, 
after  dinner,  and  the  music  was  as  delightful  as  can 
be  imagined.  My  attention  being  attracted  to  a  di- 
vine, who,  from  his  dress  and  from  his  stall,  appeared 
to  be  the  principal  person  in  the  chapel,  I  inquired 
his  name,  and  was  told  that  he  was  Dr  Home,  the 
president  of  the  college.  This  was  the  excellent  man 
since  bishop  of  Norwich,  and  well  known  from  his 
writings.  He  was  handsome,  and  of  a  good  pre- 
sence. * 


*  "  Bishop  Home  has  recorded,  in  one  of  his  publications,  that  the 
highest  seat  to  which  he  aspired  in  Heaven,  was  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Dr 
Launcelot  Andrews,  the  celebrated  bishop  in  the  days  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth and  James  the  First.  Bishop  Hobart,  in  one  of  his  publications, 
referring-  to  this  saying  of  Bishop  Home,  has  remarked,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  decide  in  which  of  the  seats  each  of  the  two  bishops  might  be  the 
most  fitly  placed."     (Note  in  1830.) 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  37 

"  On  the  other  Sunday  of  my  stay,  I  dined  with 
the  fellows  of  the  same  college,  on  the  invitation  of 
the  above  named  Mr  Burroughs.  One  of  the  fellows 
had  come  from  a  distant  parish,  held  with  his  fellows- 
ship,  to  take  his  turn  of  preaching  at  St  Mary's.  After 
dinner  the  beadle  of  the  university  came,  with  the 
ensigns  of  his  office,  to  precede  the  preacher  to  church. 
The  subject  of  the  discourse  was,  the  harmony  of  the 
evangelists  in  the  event  of  out  Lord's  resurrection. 
It  was  highly  commended,  and  the  vice-chancellor 
was  reported  to  have  expressed  a  wish  for  its  publica- 
tion. The  preacher  was  a  Mr  Townson ;  and  as  a 
divine  of  this  name  has  since  published  a  much 
esteemed  book  on  the  subject,  I  take  it  to  be  an  en- 
largement of  what  I  heard  in  outline  and  within  the 
compass  of  a  sermon.* 

"  In  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  and  in  the  same 
church,  I  heard  Dr  Thomas  Randolph,  since  dean  of 
Canterbury,  and  the  author  of  two  volumes  of  works, 
published  after  his  decease. 

*  "  Since  my  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart,  I  found,  in  the  shop  of  a  seller 
of  second  hand  books,  the  work  of  Dr  Townson  ;  and  perceiving  from  one 
of  the  English  periodicals,  that  there  had  been  published  a  posthumous 
volume  of  his  discourses,  I  obtained  it  through  the  agency  of  a  bookseller. 
It  appears  from  a  memoir  of  D^-  Townson's  life,  prefixed  to  the  volume, 
that  tlie  first  discourse  in  the  work  before  procured  by  me,  was  the  one 
which  I  heard  at  St  Mary's ;  the  place  and  the  time  of  the  first  delivery 
of  it  being  specified;  and  that  the  other  discourses  are  enlargements  of 
it.  They  are  first  rate  performances,  and  worthy  of  the  attention  of  stu- 
dents of  theology.  It  appears  from  the  memoir,  that  the  sermon  in  the 
university  was  printed  at  the  desire  of  the  learned  audience."  (Note  in 
1830.) 

D* 


38  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

"  One  day  the  above  named  Mr  Walker  invited  me 
to  the  examination  of  two  candidates  for  the  degrree  of 
A.B.,  to  be  held  in  a  building  of  great  antiquity,  called 
the  public  schools.  The  course  taken  on  such  an 
occasion  was,  that  each  of  the  candidates  chose  any 
three  of  the  resident  masters  of  arts,  to  be  his  exa- 
miners. At  present  Mr  Walker  was  one  of  such 
three.  The  examination  of  each  took  about  an  hour. 
It  was  slight;  although,  except  in  Hebrew^  not  in  such 
a  ludicrous  degree  as  is  described  by  Vicesimus  Knox, 
in  one  of  his  essays.  On  seeing  this  essay,  some  years 
after,  I  could  not  but  testify  that  there  was  ground  for 
the  representation  ;  until  there  came  out  '  A  Scale  or 
Chart  of  Truth,'  by  Dr  Tatham,  the  head  of  one  of 
the  colleges ;  being  the  compressed  contents  of  eight 
sermons,  preached  by  liim  at  the  Bampton  lecture. 
He  treats  Dr  Knox  with  great  contempt ;  and  accuses 
him  of  giving  to  the  world  what  is  substantially  false, 
becaTise  a  part  only  of  the  truth.  Dr  Tatharn  states, 
that  the  exercises  in  the  public  schools  are  kept  up 
only  pro  forma,  being  accommodated  to  the  obsolete 
philosophy  of  Aristotle ;  but  not  a  test  of  the  real  edu- 
cation conducted  in  the  different  colleges.  Dr  Ta- 
tham wishes  that  the  university  system  were  restored, 
with  accommodation  to  the  improved  state  of  philoso- 
phy; but  he  contends,  that  to  describe  what  is  done 
in  the  university  schools,  as  a  test  of  what  is  taught 
to  the  youth,  and  required  of  them  in  the  colleges,  is 
deceptive.  I  have  not  met  a  contradiction  of  Dr  Ta- 
tham's  statements.     Under  this  view  of  the  subject,  I 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  39 

suppose  that  the  Hebraic  questions  referred  to,  were  in 
compUance  with  ancient  requisition,  under  the  change 
of  times ;  when  the  knowledore  of  the  lanof-uagre  w^as  no 
longer  thought  necessary  for  a  degree  in  the  arts.  The 
questions  were,  to  one  of  the  candidates  :  What  is  the 
Enghsh  of  ^  gahhathaV  and  to  the  other:  What  is 
the  Hebrew  of  '  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?' 

"  I  was  present  in  the  convocation,  when  Dr  Nowell, 
the  public  orator  of  the  university,  presented  several 
young  gentlemen  for  honorary  degrees.  Although  he 
made  a  Latin  address,  highly  commending  them,  my 
friends  informed  me,  that  the  course  now  taken  for 
that  kind  of  degree  was  often  adopted  by  young  men 
of  family,  wdio  could  not  have  obtained  it  in  any  other 
way.  This  seems  to  strengthen  Dr  Tatham's  account 
of  the  matter.  The  convocation  consists  of  the  vice- 
chancellor,  who  presides;  the  two  proctors  for  the 
year,  who  are  a  sort  of  sheriffs  under  him ;  and  all  who 
have  attained  the  degree  of  master  of  arts. 

"Having  mentioned  some  literary  characters,  w^ho 
became  personally  known  to  me  in  the  university,  I 
will  not  omit,  although  extraneous  to  it,  that  giant  of 
genius  and  literature,  Dr  Samuel  Johnson.  My  in- 
troduction to  him  was  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Odell,  formerly  missionary  at  Burlington.  The  Doc- 
tor was  very  civil  to  me.  I  visited  him  occasionally ; 
and  I  know  some  wdio  would  be  tempted  to  envy  me 
the  felicity  of  having  found  him,  one  morning,  in  the 
act  of  preparing  his  dictionary  for  a  new  edition.     His 


40  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

harshness  of  manners  never  displayed  itself  to  me, 
except  in  one  instance;  when  he  told  me  that  had  he 
been  prime  minister,  during  the  then  recent  contro- 
versy concerning  the  stamp  act,  he  would  have  sent  a 
ship  of  war,  and  levelled  one  of  our  principal  cities 
with  the  ground.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  heard 
from  him  sentiments  expressive  of  a  feeling  heart;  and 
convincing  me,  that  he  would  not  have  done  as  he 
said.  Having  dined  in  company  with  him,  in  Ken- 
sington, at  the  house  of  Mr  Elphinstone,  well  known 
to  scholars  of  that  day,  and  returning  in  the  stage- 
coach with  the  Doctor,  I  mentioned  to  him  there  being 
a  Philadelphia  edition  of  his  '  Prince  of  Abyssinia.' 
He  expressed  a  wish  to  see  it.  I  promised  to  send 
him  a  copy  on  my  return  to  Philadelphia,  and  did  so. 
He  returned  a  polite  answer,  which  is  printed  in  Mr 
Boswell's  second  edition  of  his  Life  of  the  Doctor. 
Mr  (since  the  Rev.  Dr)  Abercrombie's  admiration  of 
Dr  Johnson  had  led  to  a  correspondence  with  Mr  Bos- 
well,  to  whom,  with  my  consent,  the  letter  was  sent.* 
"  This  reminds  me  of  another  literary  character,  a 
friend  of  Johnson,  Dr  Goldsmith.  We  lodged,  for 
some  time,  near  to  one  another,  in  Brick  Court,  of  the 

*  "  There  was  sent,  not  the  letter,  as  I  supposed,  but  a  copy  of  it. 
The  fact  was  not  known  to  me,  until  the  following  incident.  Dining  at 
the  table  of  President  Washington,  and  sitting  near  to  Mr  Swanwick, 
then  a  member  of  congress,  this  related  anecdote  having  been  given  by 
me  to  a  few  gentlemen  within  hearing,  Mr  Swanwick,  hearing  of  the 
sending  of  the  letter,  corrected  the  error  ;  and  declaiming  on  the  subject, 
expected  to  see  the  time  when  the  letter  would  be  worth  two  thousand 
guineas."     (Note  in  1830.) 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  41 

Temple.  I  had  it  intimated  to  him,  by  an  acquaint- 
ance of  both,  that  I  wished  for  the  pleasure  of  making 
him  a  visit.  It  ensued;  and  in  our  conversation  it 
took  a  turn  which  excited  in  me  a  painful  sensation, 
from  the  circumstance  that  a  man  of  such  a  genius 
should  write  for  bread.  His  '  Deserted  Village'  came 
under  notice;  and  some  remarks  were  made  by  us  on 
the  principle  of  it — the  decay  of  the  peasantry.  He 
said,  that  were  he  to  write  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject, 
he  could  prove  the  point  incontrovertibly.  On  his 
being  asked,  w^hy  he  did  not  set  his  mind  to  this,  his 
answer  was;  'It  is  not  worth  my  while.  A  good 
poem  wdll  bring  me  one  hundred  guineas:  but  the 
pamphlet  would  bring  me  nothing.'  This  was  a  short 
time  before  my  leaving  of  England,  and  I  saw  the 
Doctor  no  more. 

"In  June  1772,  I  was  ordained  a  priest  by  the 
Bishop  of  London  (Dr  Terrick).  This  prelate  not 
having  given  any  w^ork  to  the  world,  the  only  ground 
of  his  being  supposed  by  me  to  possess  talents,  is  his 
having  risen  from  humble  life.  He  had  a  fine  voice, 
and  was  an  excellent  reader  of  the  service,  being  also 
said  to  be  a  good  preacher.  I  heard  much  concerning 
him  in  Twickenham,  and  it  was  entirely  in  his  favour. 
He  had  been  vicar  of  that  parish;  and  in  my  first  in- 
terview with  him,  on  my  mention  to  him  of  the  family 
in  which  I  proposed  to  spend  part  of  my  time,  I  found 
he  had  been  acquainted  with  them.  I  will  relate  an 
anecdote  to  his  credit,  learned  in  my  subsequent  visit 
to  England.     It  is  of  a  transaction  which  took  place 


42  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

within  a  few  hours  of  his  death.  He  had  long  in- 
tended to  provide  for  my  friend  the  Rev.  Colston  Carr, 
the  son  of  a  clergyman  who  had  been  his  curate,  and 
was  esteemed  by  him.  When  the  vicarage  of  Eling 
fell  in  his  gift,  Mr  Carr  was  appointed  to  it.  Matters 
were  in  preparation  for  a  legal  settlement,  when  the 
bishop,  who  had  been  in  a  decline  of  health,  was 
seized  in  such  a  manner  that  he  perceived  his  end 
approaching.  On  this,  he  charged  a  young  noble- 
man, who  had  married  one  of  his  daughters,  to  relate 
the  case  to  the  lord  chancellor,  into  whose  gift  the 
parish  would  fall,  with  the  dying  request,  that  Mr 
Carr  might  not  be  disappointed  of  his  reasonable 
expectations.     The  request  was  complied  with." 

In  the  same  month  of  June,  Mr  White  embarked 
for  Philadelphia,  and,  after  a  tedious  passage,  arrived 
there  on  the  13th  of  September.  He  was  chosen  by 
the  vestry  of  Christ  Church  and  St  Peter's,  an  assist- 
ant minister  in  those  churches,  in  the  succeeding 
month ;  as  was  also  Mr  Coombe,  before  mentioned  as 
an  associate  with  him  in  theological  studies.  That 
gentleman  had  returned  from  England  in  the  preced- 
ing spring,  after  having  spent  two  or  three  years  as  a 
curate  and  a  lecturer  in  London.  "  He  was,"  says 
the  bishop,  "  my  senior  by  about  five  months.  We 
had  been  companions  from  the  English  school,  but  I 
had  graduated  a  year  before  him.  He  had  a  fine 
voice,  and  was  considerably  conversant  in  what  is 
called  polite  literature ;  but  had  no  turn  to  the  study 
either  of  the  dead  lano^ua^es  or  of  the  sciences." 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  43 

Some  circumstances,  connected  witli  Mr  White's 
appointment,  and  appearing  on  the  minutes  of  the 
vestry,  prove  his  disinterestedness,  and  the  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held.  While  he  was  yet  in  England, 
a  meeting  of  the  vestry  was  held  on  the  19th  of  June 
1772;  at  which  the  rector,  Dr  Peters,  represented  the 
necessity  of  additional  aid  in  the  pastoral  duties  of  the 
two  churches,  in  consequence  of  his  own  infirmity 
and  the  resignation  of  Mr  Sturgeon,  and  added:  ''I 
am  further  told,  that,  under  this  exigency,  several,  I 
may  say  almost  all,  have  turned  their  eyes  on  two 
young  gentlemen,  Mr  Coombe  and  Mr  White,  who 
are  both  born  and  educated  in  this  city,  both  of  excel- 
lent moral  character  and  known  abilities,  both  in  full 
orders,  and  licensed  by  the  bishop  of  London  for  this 
province."  The  vestry  "voted  that  two  assistant 
ministers  were  necessary;"  and  after  considering  the 
state  of  the  funds,  "expressed  their  good  opinion  of 
the  merits  of  Mr  Coombe  and  Mr  White,  and  that 
they  were  desirous  to  invite  them  as  assistants,  if  ways 
and  means  can  be  devised  to  raise  money  for  their 
support;  the  present  revenues  of  the  church  being 
barely  sufficient  to  provide  for  the  rector  and  Mr 
Duche."  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  on  the  16th  of 
November,  the  rector,  after  referring  to  the  above 
proceedings,  remarks:  "In  consequence  of  your  de- 
claration, these  two  gentlemen  have  favoured  me  with 
their  assistance,  and  have  given  the  congregations  and 
myself  great  satisfaction;  but,  notwithstanding  our 
personal  affection  for  each  other,  it  cannot  be  expected 


44  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

that  they  will  be  willing  to  continue  their  assistance, 
unless  it  shall  be  put  into  my  power  to  make  them,  in 
your  and  my  own  name,  such  offers  as  shall  afford 
them  a  decent  and  suitable  subsistence."  On  the  30th 
of  November,  a  report  on  the  church  revenues  was 
read  in  vestry,  and  also  the  following  letter  from  the 
Rev.  Mr  White : 

Philadelphia,  November  30,  1772. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

I  fmd  it  to  be  the  intention  of  the  vestry  to  divide 
between  the  Rev.  Mr  Coombe  and  me,  whatever  can 
be  spared  of  the  money  arising  from  their  funds,  and 
and  that  they  are  desirous  of  raising  from  the  congre- 
gations a  further  supply,  which  they  likewise  mean 
to  divide  between  us. 

This  letter  is  intended  to  inform  you,  that  whilst  I 
officiate  in  these  churches,  I  shall  always  be  satisfied 
with  what  they  can  afford  to  offer  me  from  their  regu- 
lar funds,  and  not  expect  to  receive  any  part  of  what 
may  be  raised  by  some  new  way.  If  a  proposal  be 
made  to  the  congregations  for  a  further  supply,  I  am 
sure  the  vestry  will  do  me  the  justice  to  express  it  in 
such  a  manner,  as  that  none  may  be  led  to  suppose 
me  interested  in  the  success  of  it.  Perhaps  they  will 
think  it  proper  to  mention,  in  their  proposal,  that  I 
am  excluded  by  my  own  desire,  in  order  to  make 
known  their  intention  to  preserve  an  equality  between 
Mr  Coombe  and  me. 

I  submit  it,  sir,  to  your  judgment,  whether  this  let- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  45 

ter  be  read  to  the  vestry,  or  the  substance  of  it  be  de- 
clared to  them  by  you. 
I  am,  reverend  sir, 

Your  affectionate,  humble  servant, 
WILLIAM  WHITE. 
Rev.  Lr  Peters. 

The  rector  communicated  his  intention  to  give  to 
each  of  the  gentlemen  one  hundred  pounds  per  an- 
num. The  vestry  added  a  salary  of  two  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  from  the  churches  for  Mr  Coombe, 
and  adopted  the  following  resolution :  ''And  whereas 
the  vestry  are  sensible  that  the  same  salary  ought  to 
be  allowed  to  Rev.  Mr  White,  yet,  as  he  has  so  gene- 
rously and  earnestly  expressed  his  desire  not  to  re- 
ceive more  than  the  church  funds  can  allow,  and  will 
be  content,  as  they  are  informed,  for  the  present,  with 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds;  Resolved,  That  the 
annual  sum  of  fifty  pounds  be  paid  oiit  of  the  church 
funds  to  the  Rev.  Mr  White,  over  and  above  the  rec- 
tor's gift  of  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum." 

In  February  1773,  Mr  White  married  Miss  Mary 
Harrison,  an  amiable  lady  of  much  merit,  to  whom  he 
had  been  tenderly  attached  for  two  or  three  years  be- 
fore his  voyage  to  England.  Her  parents  were  from 
Lancashire  in  that  kingdom.  Her  father,  originally 
a  sea  captain,  became  a  considerable  and  successful 
merchant;  and  was  an  alderman,  and  for  some  time 
mayor  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  also  an  efficient 
warden  and  vestryman  of  Christ  Church,  when  it  was 

E 


46  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

the  only  Episcopal  church  in  that  city.  With  this 
lady  Mr  White  lived  in  uninterrupted  harmony  until 
her  death,  on  the  13th  of  December  1797.  He  was 
not  again  married.  He  never  ceased  to  deplore  her 
loss,  with  the  tenderest  recollection  of  her  merits. 

No  material  incident  occurred  after  his  marriage, 
until  the  troubles  between  Great  Britain  and  her  co- 
lonies became  more  serious,  and  led  to  the  war  of  the 
revolution.  Mr  White  carefully  and  fully  reflected 
upon  the  principles  involved  in  that  great  contest. 
To  such  reflection  he  felt  himself  bound  by  a  strong 
sense  of  his  duty  as  a  free  subject,  a  Christian  and  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel;  and  in  the  last  character,  on 
account,  more  especially,  of  his  connection  with  the 
Church  of  England.  His  talents  and  sound  judgment, 
united  with  extensive  information,  well  qualified  him 
for  an  examination  of  the  dispute.  He  had,  long  be- 
fore that  period,  carefully  studied  the  English  history, 
and  the  principles  of  the  English  constitution ;  and 
his  reading  on  those  subjects  had  been  considerable. 
The  result  of  his  careful  reflection  was  a  decided 
opinion  in  favour  of  the  claims  of  the  colonies;  to 
which  he  adhered,  and  on  which  he  uniformly  and 
consistently  acted,  during  the  whole  contest.  His 
account  of  the  course  adopted  by  him,  and  of  the  mo- 
tives which  led  to  it,  is  too  interesting  not  to  be  given 
in  his  own  language. 

"The  principles  which  I  had  adopted,  are  those 
which  enter  into  the  constitution  of  England,  from 
the  Saxon  times,  however  the  fact  may  have  been 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  47 

disguised  by  Mr  Hume;  and  were  confirmed  and 
acted  on  at  the  revolution  in  1688.  The  late  mea- 
sures of  the  English  government  contradicted  the 
rights,  which  the  colonists  had  brought  with  them  to 
the  wilds  of  America;  and  which  were,  until  then, 
respected  by  the  mother  country.  The  worst  state  of 
dependent  provinces  has  been  that  which  bound  them 
to  a  country  itself  free.  This  is  a  fact  sulficiently 
illustrated  in  the  case  of  those  of  Rome;  which  were 
more  miserable  under  the  republic  than  under  the 
emperors,  monsters  as  the  most  of  them  were.  Our 
quarrel  w^as,  substantially,  with  our  free  fellow  sub- 
jects of  Great  Britain;  and  we  never  objected  to  the 
constitutional  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  until  it  threw 
us  out  of  its  protection.  This  it  did,  independently 
on  other  measures,  by  what  was  called  the  prohibitory 
act,  passed  in  November  1775,  authorizing  the  seizure 
of  all  vessels  belonging  to  persons  of  this  country, 
whether  friends  or  foes.  The  act  arrived  about  the 
time  of  the  publication  of  Paine's  'Common  Sense.' 
Had  the  act  been  contrived  by  some  person  in  league 
with  Paine,  in  order  to  give  effect  to  his  production, 
no  expedient  could  have  been  more  ingenious.  To  a 
reader  of  that  flimsy  work  at  the  present  day,  the  con- 
fessed effect  of  it  at  the  time  is  a  matter  of  surprize. 
Had  it  issued  six  months  sooner,  it  would  have  excited 
no  feeling,  except  that  of  resentment  against  the  au- 
thor. But  there  had  come  a  crisis,  which  the  foremost 
leaders  of  American  resistance  were  reluctant  to  rea- 
lize to  their  minds. 


48  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

"  Even  in  regard  to  war,  there  is  a  fact  which  shows 
how  far  it  was  from  beii]g  sought  for  or  anticipated 
by  the  American  people.  The  congress  of  1774  con- 
cluded their  address  to  them,  with  advice  to  be  pre- 
pared for  all  events;  and  yet,  until  the  shedding  of 
blood  at  Lexington,  in  April  1775,  there  was  no  pre- 
paration, beyond  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  British 
army  in  Boston.  The  secretary  of  congress,  Mr 
Charles  Thomson,  subsequently  expressed  to  me  his 
surprize  at  its  not  being  generally  understood,  that  the 
congress  perceived  the  probability  of  what  came  to 
pass;  and  were  of  opinion  that  it  should  be  prepared 
for,  by  being  provided  with  the  means  of  resistance. 

"These  things  are  said  without  disrespect  to  the 
personal  character  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain.  He 
took  the  part  into  which,  perhaps,  any  man  would 
have  been  betrayed  by  the  same  circumstances.  You 
know  my  construction  of  the  scriptural  precepts,  on 
the  subject  of  obedience  to  civil  rulers.  It  engaged 
my  most  serious  consideration ;  and  under  the  sense 
of  my  responsibility  to  God,  I  am  still  of  opinion,  that 
they  respect  the  ordinary  administration  of  men  in 
power ;  who  are  not  to  be  resisted  from  private  regards, 
or  for  the  seeking  of  changes,  however  promising  in 
theory.  In  a  mixed  government,  the  constitutional 
rights  of  any  one  branch  are  as  much  the  ordinance 
of  God  as  those  of  any  other.  This  view  of  the  sub- 
ject would  be  abandoned,  if  it  could  be  proved  to  be 
more  fruitful  of  disorder  than  its  opposite.  The  latter 
is  rather  the  cause  of  civil  wars,  as  in  the  rebellions 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  49 

of  1715  and  1745.  To  talk  of  hereditary  right,  when 
the  question  is  of  the  sense  of  the  scriptural  precepts, 
is  beside  the  mark;  for  they  look  no  further  than  to 
the  present  possessor  of  the  power.*-  The  contrary 
theory  lands  us  on  despotism;  and  if  any  should  be 
reconciled  to  this,  by  the  notion  of  its  securing  of  tran- 
quillity, there  cannot  be  a  greater  mistake.  If  there 
be  no  constitutional  check,  it  will  be  found  unconsti- 
tutionally, in  some  such  shape  as  that  of  the  praetorian 
guards  of  Rome,  or  of  the  janizaries  of  Turkey,  or  of 
the  combinations  of  grandees  in  Russia. 

''However  satisfactory  this  train  of  sentiment,  at 
the  crisis  referred  to,  the  question  of  expediency  was 
problematical,  considering  the  immense  power  of  the 
mother  country.  Perhaps,  had  the  issue  depended  on 
my  determination,  it  would  have  been  for  submission, 
with  the  determined  and  steady  continuance  of  right- 
ful claim.  But  when  my  countrymen  in  general  had 
chosen  the  dreadful  measure  of  forcible  resistance — 
for  certainly  the  spirit  was  almost  universal  at  the 
time  of  arming — it  was  the  dictate  of  conscience,  to 
take  what  seemed  the  right  side.  When  matters  were 
verging  to  independence,  there  was  less  to  be  said 
for  dissent  from  the  voice  of  the  country,  than  in  the 
beginning.  Great  Britain  had  not  relinquished  a  par- 
ticle of  her  claim.     Her  commissioners  did  not  pre- 

*     "  In  support  of  my  ideas  of  the  British  constitution,  I  might  refer  to 
many  whom  I  esteem  among  the  soundest  divines  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land ;  but  will  name  one  only,  Bishop  Sherlock.     There  is  alluded  to  the 
thirteenth  of  the  fourth  volume  of  his  Sermons."     (Note  in  1830.) 
E* 


50  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tend  to  any  power  of  this  sort  from  the  crown;  and 
had  they  pretended  it,  there  was  no  power  in  the 
crown  to  suspend  acts  of  parHament,  or  to  promise  the 
repeal  of  them.  On  this  ground,  it  must  be  perceived, 
that  the  least  defensible  persons  were  they  who  gave 
their  services  to  the  engaging  in  the  war,  and  then 
abandoned  the  cause.  In  proof  of  the  fact  of  the 
almost  universal  disposition  of  the  Americans,  you 
may  be  referred  to  Bisset's  History  of  the  Reign  of 
George  the  Third,  written  in  opposition  to  the  anti- 
government  history  of  Belsham.  It  will  not  be  un- 
profitable to  you,  to  bestow  your  serious  attention  on 
the  details  made  by  the  former,  not  merely  of  the  in- 
justice of  ministerial  measures,  but  of  the  folly  of  them ; 
indications  of  the  utter  ignorance  of  our  country,  and 
of  the  consequent  incapacity  for  the  governing  of  it. 
Government  confided,  for  information,  on  the  persons 
whom  they  ought  the  most  to  have  distrusted :  and 
repeated  failure  did  not  cure  them  of  the  delusion, 
until  the  effect  was  irremediable. 

"Although  possessed  of  these  sentiments,  I  never 
beat  the  ecclesiastical  drum.  My  two  brethren  in  the 
assistant  ministry  preached  animating  sermons,  appro- 
batory of  the  war,  which  were  printed;  as  did  the  most 
prominent  of  our  clergy,  Dr  Smith.  Our  aged  rector, 
in  consequence  of  increasing  weakness,  was  retiring 
from  the  world.  Not  long  before  this  time  he  resigned 
his  rectorship,  was  succeeded  by  Mr  Duche,  and  soon 
after  died.  Being  invited  to  preach  before  a  batta- 
lion, I  declined;   and  mentioned  to  the  colonel,  who 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  51 

was  one  of  the  warmest  spirits  of  the  day,*  my  objec- 
tions to  the  making  of  the  ministry  instrumental  to 
the  war.  I  continued,  as  did  all  of  us,  to  pray  for  the 
king,  until  Sunday  (inclusively)  before  the  4th  of  July 
1776.  Within  a  short  time  after,  I  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  have  since  re- 
mained faithful  to  it.  My  intentions  were  upright, 
and  most  seriously  weighed.  I  hope  they  were  not  in 
contrariety  to  my  duty." 

At  the  time  of  Mr  White's  taking  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance, as  above  mentioned,  the  following  incident  is 
said  to  have  occurred.  When  he  went  to  the  court 
house  for  the  purpose,  a  gentleman  of  his  acquaint- 
ance standing  there,  observing  his  design,  intimated 
to  him,  by  a  gesture,  the  danger  to  which  he  would 
expose  himself.  After  having  taken  the  oath,  he  re- 
marked, before  leaving  the  court  house,  to  the  gentle- 
man alluded  to:  "I  perceived,  by  your  gesture,  that 
you  thought  I  was  exposing  my  neck  to  great  danger 
by  the  step  which  I  have  taken.  But  I  have  not 
taken  it  without  full  deliberation.  I  know  my  danger, 
and  that  it  is  the  greater  on  account  of  my  being  a 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England.  But  I  trust  in 
Providence.  The  cause  is  a  just  one,  and  I  am  per- 
suaded will  be  protected." 

Early  in  the  contest,  and  before  the  declaration  of 
independence,  he  had  publicly  avowed  and  maintained 

*  »'  The  colonel  alluded  to  was  Timothy  Matlack  ;  whose  ardour  in 
the  American  cause  cannot  but  be  still  remembered  by  many."  (Note  in 
1830.) 


52  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

those  principles  relative  to  the  duty  of  obedience  to 
established  government,  which  justified  the  resistance 
of  the  colonies  to  the  unconstitutional  measures  adopt- 
ed against  them  by  the  mother  country.  The  occa- 
sion was  on  the  5th  of  November  1775.  That  day 
was  then  observed  here,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  Brit- 
ish empire,  in  commemoration  of  the  two  events  of  the 
gunpowder  plot,  and  the  revolution  of  1688;  and,  hap- 
pening then  on  Sunday,  furnished  a  suitable  oppor- 
tunity of  introducing  the  subject  in  a  sermon  from  the 
pulpit.  The  same  sermon  was  twice  delivered  subse- 
quently; and  after  the  last  occasion,  which  was  on  the 
25th  of  April  1799,  was  published,  with  only  small 
alterations  relative  to  circumstances  then  existino-.  It 
is  on  Romans,  ch.  xiii.,  v.  1  and  2.  His  reasoning  in 
it  is  clear  and  close,  and  appears  to  be  conclusive.  An 
abstract  would  not  do  justice  to  it;  but  the  general 
principles  sustained  should  be  mentioned.  The  text 
inculcates,  and  enforces  by  the  proper  motives,  the 
duty  of  subjection  to  the  "higher  powers."  But  he 
maintained  that  it  gives  no  support  to  the  opinion  of 
the  indefeasible  right  of  princes  to  the  obedience  of 
their  subjects;  nor  to  another  opinion,  which  it  had 
been  brought  to  countenance,  of  the  duty  of  submis- 
sion to  the  civil  authority,  in  whatever  hands  it  may 
be  lodged ;  to  whatever  extremes  it  may  be  abused ; 
and  whatever  constitutions  and  laws  it  may  contradict : 
that  the  latter  is  inconsistent  with  an  universally  ac- 
knowledged characteristic  of  Christianity ;  viz.  its  not 
intermeddling  with  the  civil  constitutions  of  countries; 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  53 

and  its  leaving  of  their  different  policies  to  the  princi- 
ples on  which  they  have  been  respectively  founded  : 
that  let  the  opinion  mentioned  be  admitted  and  acted 
on  in  Christian  states,  it  would  immediately  follow, 
that  all  legal  boundaries  of  prerogative  are  done  away; 
that  one  simple  and  absolute  dominion  supersedes  the 
various  modifications  of  power;  that  the  first  prince, 
or  the  first  robber,  who  will  seize  all,  shall  from  that 
moment  possess  all,  to  be  governed  by  himself,  and  by 
his  successors,  as  their  lusts  or  fancies  may  direct : 
that  the  true  sense  of  the  Gospel  precepts  on  the  sub- 
ject is,  that  they  inculcate,  in  general,  the  duty  of  obe- 
dience to  the  civil  magistrate,  without  any  nice  dis- 
cussions concerning  the  origin,  or  the  extent,  or  the 
discontinuance  of  his  power ;  but  leaving  the  doctrine 
to  be  applied,  in  these  respects,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  duty  and  the  end  for  which  it  was  ordained : 
that  the  doctrine  is  left  on  this  footing  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  common  with  all  the  other  social  obligations ; 
as,  for  instance,  the  authority  of  father  and  that  of 
master,  with  the  corresponding  duties  of  child  and  of 
servant;  the  one  of  which  is  required,  and  the  other 
asserted,  without  limitation  or  exception;  not  that 
there  are  no  limitations  or  exceptions,  for  there  are 
confessedly ;  and  it  is  the  business  of  judgment  and  of 
conscience  to  ascertain  and  to  regard  them,  and  to 
apply  principles  to  cases,  as  they  occur.  That  the 
case  of  an  extreme  abuse  of  power  was  not  at  all  in 
contemplation  of  the  apostle;  as  appears  from  the 
verses  immediately  following  the  text  (v.  3 — 6),  in 


54  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

which  he  reasons  from  the  nature  and  the  end  of  go- 
vernment, which  are  always  good,  to  the  suitable  sub- 
mission and  obedience ;  the  relation  of  which  reason- 
ing to  a  wanton  abuse  of  power,  or  the  perversion  of 
it  from  its  true  end,  cannot  be  shown.  That  the  pas- 
sage does  not  speak  of  such  a  case,  but  leaves  it  to 
what  reason,  under  the  ofuidance  of  relimon  and  mo- 
rals,  shall  point  out,  as  the  proper  means  of  ascertain- 
ing and  securing  civil  rights.  That  in  the  ^  same 
spirit  the  passage  concludes:  "Render  therefore  to  all 
their  due§  :  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due ;  custom  to 
whom  custom;  honour  to  whom  honour."  That  the 
most  reasonable  measure  of  those  dues  is  the  venera- 
ble authority  of  constitution  and  of  law;  and  there  can 
be  no  occasion  of  asserting-  against  these  the  cause  of 
mere  power :  and  that  the  duty  enjoined  is,  that  when 
the  civil  magistrate  is  in  the  exercise  of  his  authority 
agreeably  to  constitution  and  to  Ik^,  it  is  criminal  to 
resist  him,  on  any  pretence  whatever. 

In  September  1777,  Mr  White  retired,  with  his 
family,  to  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  Mr  Aquila 
Hall,  in  Harford  county,  Maryland.  The  British 
army  were  then  advancing  to  Philadelphia,  of  which 
they  took  possession  soon  afterwards.  "  At  this  event- 
ful crisis,"  he  says,  "  I  received  notice  that  congress, 
who  had  fled  to  Yorktown,  had  chosen  me  their  chap- 
lain. They  chose,  with  me,  the  Rev.  Mr  Duffield,  of 
the  Presbyterian  communion.  Nothing  could  have 
induced  me  to  accept  the  appointment,  at  such  a  time, 
even  had  the  emolument  been  an  object,  as  it  was  not, 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  55 

but  the  determination  to  be  consistent  in  my  princi- 
ples, and  in  the  part  taken.  Under  this  impression,  I 
divided  my  time  between  congress  and  my  family, 
which  the  double  chaplainship  permitted,  until  the 
evacuation,  of  the  city,  in  the  June  following.  My 
acceptance  of  the  chaplainship  w^as  a  few  days  before 
the  arrival  of  the  intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Gene- 
ral Burgoyne;  which  tended  to  a  revival  from  the 
general  depression  occasioned  by  the  capture  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  by  the  advance  of  an  army  on  the  fron- 
tier of  New  York;  the  success  of  which  would  have 
severed  the  eastern  states  from  the  southern."  The 
circumstances  attending  his  acceptance  of  this  appoint- 
ment were  sometimes  detailed  by  him,  in  conversation 
with  his  friends,  in  a  lively  manner.  Bishop  Kem- 
per, of  Missouri  and  Indiana,  who  was  present  on  some 
such  occasions,  mentions  to  me  that  he  related  them 
thus :  "  That  he  had  removed  with  his  family  to 
Maryland ;  and  being  on  a  journey,  stopped  at  a  small 
village  between  Harford  county  and  Philadelphia,  at 
which  he  was  met  by  a  courier  from  Yorktown,  in- 
forming him  of  his  being  appointed  by  congress  their 
chaplain,  and  requesting  his  immediate  attendance  :  • 
that  he  thought  of  it  for  a  short  time ;  it  was  in  one  of 
the  gloomiest  periods  of  the  American  affairs,  when 
General  Burgoyne  was  marching,  without  having  yet 
received  a  serious  check,  so  far  as  was  then  known, 
through  the  northern  parts  of  New  York :  and  after 
his  short  consideration,  instead  of  proceeding  on  his 
journey,  he  turned  his  horses'  heads,  travelled  imme- 


56  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

diately  to  Yorktown,  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  his 
appointment."  These  circumstances  manifest  the 
firmness  and  decision  of  his  character,  and  his  con- 
stant adherence  to  the  principles  which  he  had  deU- 
berately  embraced. 

While  officiating  as  chaplain,  he  had  opportunities 
of  observing  some  tokens  of  the  difficulties  under 
which  congress  laboured,  in  procuring  the  means  of 
carrying  on  the  war,  and  the  very  reduced  state  of 
their  finances,  at  some  periods.  The  two  following 
facts,  related  by  himself,  are  striking  proofs  of  their 
destitution  of  funds,  and  the  very  low  state  of  their 
credit.  On  one  occasion,  going  into  the  chamber  of 
congress  to  perform  his  duty  as  chaplain,  he  remarked 
to  one  of  the  members;  "You  have  been  treating 
yourselves,  I  perceive,  to  new  inkstands."  "Yes," 
was  the  reply,  "and  private  credit  had  to  be  pledged 
for  the  payment."  At  another  time,  observing  that 
the  clerks  had  removed  from  their  usual  room,  and 
inquiring  the  cause,  he  was  told  that  there  was  no 
wood  to  make  a  fire  there,  nor  money  to  buy  it. 
These  incidents  must  have  occurred  after  congress 
returned  to  Philadelphia. 

He  continued  chaplain  until  that  body  removed  to 
New  York.  When,  after  the  adoption  of  the  existing 
constitution,  the  congress  of  the  United  States  returned 
to  Philadelphia,  he  was  again  chosen  one  of  their 
chaplains;  and  continued  to  be  so  chosen,  at  each  suc- 
cessive congress,  by  the  senate,  until  the  removal  of 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  57 

the  seat  of  government  to  Washington,  in  the  3^ear 
1801.* 

Before  Mr  White's  return  to  Philadelphia,  his 
friend,  Mr  Duche,  had  gone  to  England.  "To  his 
country,"  says  the  Bishop,  "he  had  become  obnox- 
ious, in  consequence  of  a  letter  written  by  him  to 
General  Washington,  entreating  him  to  use  his  influ- 
ence with  the  congress,  for  the  putting  of  an  end  to 
the  war;  and,  in  the  event  of  their  refusing,  to  nego- 
tiate at  the  head  of  his  army.  It  was  a  very  incorrect 
measure,  but  induced  by  despair  of  the  American 
cause,  and  to  spare  the  effusion  of  blood.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mr  Duche  must  have  been  aware,  that 
his  having  officiated  as  chaplain  to  congress,  even 
after  the  declaration  of  independence,  was  known  to 
his  superiors  in  England.  To  appease  in  that  quarter 
was  the  professed  object  of  his  voyage. 

"  He  had  already  suffered,  in  a  degree,  for  the  coun- 
tenance given  by  him  to  what  was  considered  as  rebel- 
lion. But  on  the  Sunday  after  the  entrance  of  the 
British  army,  in  September  1777,  after  officiating  in 
Christ  Church,  and  after  praying  for  the  king  in  the 
service,  he  was  arrested  at  the  door  of  the  church  by 
an  officer,  and  conducted  to  jail,  under  the  immediate 
command  of  Sir  William  Howe.     He  remained  there 


*  Being  consulted,  in  December  1830,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  V.  D. 
Johns,  then  one  of  tlie  chaplains  of  congress,  on  some  difficulties  met 
with  in  the  performance  of  the  official  duties,  he  wrote  a  reply,  explain- 
ing his  own  practice  as  chaplain,  and  containing  some  other  interesting 
particulars.  It  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix,  No.  1. 
F 


58  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

one  night  only;  his  friends  having,  in  the  mean  time^ 
made  known  his  change  of  sentiment;  and  he,  as  may 
be  presumed,  having  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
This  is  one  instance,  among  very  many,  of  the  breach 
of  a  promise  made  in  a  proclamation  issued  by  the 
said  general  at  the  time  of  his  landing  from  Chesapeake 
bay,  in  which  people  were  invited  to  stay  at  their  re- 
spective homes,  under  the  assurance  of  not  being  pun- 
ished for  the  past.  The  instances  of  the  violation  of 
this  promise  were  too  many  and  too  public,  to  have 
been  matters  of  oversight ;  and  being  during  a  tide  of 
success,  were  an  awful  intimation  of  the  probable 
consequences  of  submission. 

"In  my  last  visit  to  England,  there  was  a  renev/al 
of  my  friendly  intercourse  with  Mr  Duche;  and  I 
spent  the  greater  number  of  my  Sundays  in  his  family, 
and  in  the  asylum  to  which  he  was  chaplain ;  and 
you  are  old  enough  to  have  been  a  Avitness,  when  a 
youth  in  my  neighbourhood,  of  a  subsequent  renewal 
of  it,  on  his  return  to  this  country,  in  May  1792. 
His  decease  was  in  March  1797.  In  a  note  append- 
ed in  1830,  he  adds:  "On  the  return  of  Mr  Duche, 
he  lodged,  for  a  few  weeks,  at  my  house,  with  his 
family.  During  their  being  with  me,  there  took  place 
the  interesting  incident  of  his  visit  to  President  Wash- 
ington; who  had  been  apprized  of  and  consented  to  it; 
and  manifested  generous  sensibility,  on  observing,  on 
the  limbs  of  Mr  Duche,  the  effects  of  a  slight  stroke 
of  paralysis,  sustained  by  him  in  England." 

Within  a  few  days  after  the  evacuation  of  Philadel- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  69 

phia  by  the  British  army,  Mr  White  returned  to  that 
city.  The  circumstances  in  which  the  Episcopal 
churches  were  placed,  and  the  state  of  political  feeling, 
shortly  rendered  his  situation  difficult  and  embarrass- 
ing. All  his  brethren  of  the  clergy  retired  from  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  left  alone  in  it  to 
watch  over  and  support  the  interests  of  the  church, 
which  was  exposed  to  dangers,  from  causes  both  inter- 
nal and  external,  arising  from  the  circumstances  of  the 
country.  But  the  confidence  universally  felt  in  his 
integrity  and  judgment;  his  well  known  political 
principles,  favourable  to  the  liberty  and  independence 
of  the  United  States,  and  giving  him  an  influence  with 
those  in  power  which  he  could  not  otherwise  have 
possessed ;  and  the  steady,  prudent,  and  conciliatory 
course  which  he  pursued,  were  of  signal  benefit  to  her, 
and  enabled  him,  under  Providence,  to  conduct  her  in 
safety,  though  diminished  in  extent,  through  the 
threatening  dangers.  Prejudices,  not  unnaturally  ex- 
cited by  her  former  connection  w^th  the  established 
Church  of  England,  were  removed  or  weakened  by  the 
knowledge  of  the  public  station,  and  acceptable  poli- 
tical sentiments,  of  this  her  leading  and  influential 
advocate,  which  were  a  security  that  her  principles 
could  not  be  unfriendly  to  the  liberty  and  welfare  of 
the  country.  Incidents  occurring  during  the  revolu- 
tion called  upon  him,  and  rendered  it  indeed  incum- 
bent on  him,  in  consequence  of  the  prominent  station 
in  which  he  was  placed,  to  defend  the  Episcopalians, 
as  will  be  hereafter  shown,  from  the  suspicion  and 


60  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

charge  of  combining,  as  a  body,  political  with  their 
religious  principles,  which,  if  believed,  would  subject 
them  to  odium,  and  greatly  injure  the  advancement, 
and  even  safety  of  their  church.  But  he  was  enabled 
to  guard  her  from  the  apprehended  effects. 

He  thus  describes  hi-s  situation,  and  that  of  the 
church,  after  his  return  to  Philadelphia:  "My  col- 
league, Mr  Coombe,  was  still  here;  deliberating  whe- 
ther to  stay  or  to  go.  He  determined  on  the  latter. 
We  renewed  our  acquaintance  during  my  short  stay 
in  England.  He  had  then  been  in  Ireland,  chaplain 
to  Lord  Carlisle,  who  w^as,  for  a  short  time,  lord  lieu- 
tenant there ;  and  Mr  Coombe,  besides  obtaining  the 
degree  of  doctor  in  divinity  from  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  had  been  presented,  by  his  patron,  with  a 
parish.  He  is  now  a  prebendary  of  Canterbury,  and 
one  of  the  forty -eight  chaplains  to  the  king. 

"The  present  state  and  prospects  of  our  church 
exhibit  a  contrast  fruitful  of  satisfaction,  compared 
with  the  period  when  I  was  the  only  officiating  clergy- 
man of  our  church  in  the  state.  Our  settled  clergy  of 
the  province,  exclusively  of  the  city,  had  been  never 
more  than  six;  and  these  were  supported  principally 
by  stipends  from  England.  During  the  revolutionary 
war,  some  had  died,  and  the  others  had  retired  to  Eng- 
land; except  Dr  Smith,  who  remained  until  what 
took  place  subsequently  in  the  college.  He  then 
removed  to  Maryland,  and  set  on  foot  his  measures 
for  the  founding  of  a  college  in  Chestertown ;  in  which 
he  had  accepted  the  parish ;  and  another  in  Anna- 
polis. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  61 

"  I  was  now  in  a  trying  situation,  in  the  parochial 
cure  of  the  churches  to  which  my  services  had  been, 
and  have  been  ever  since,  devoted.  The  difficulty 
was  in  regard  to  the  warm  spirits  of  whigs  and  tories, 
as  they  were  called.  With  the  latter,  the  danger  was 
the  absenting  of  themselves  from  the  churches;  in  the 
devotions  of  which,  the  new  allegiance  was  acknow- 
ledged. That  some  took  this  part,  for  a  time,  is  cer- 
tain; but  it  is  remarkable,  that  of  these,  there  were 
scarcely  any  who  had  professed  conscientious  scruples 
against  resistance;  and  that  they  were  chiefly  persons, 
who  had  eng^ao^ed  in  it  without  calculatino^  the  con- 
sequences,  and  had  afterwards  inconsistently  relin- 
quished it.  The  prejudice  wore  away  gradually. 
With  the  hot  whigs  it  was  more  difficult  to  deal,  be- 
cause of  the  present  season  of  success;  and  because 
they  who  staid  in  the  city  had  become,  in  some  mea- 
sure, identified  with  the  enemy;  whose  conduct  had 
been,  in  many  instances,  wantonly  oppressive ;  al- 
though, it  must  be  confessed,  with  very  little  discri- 
mination between  friends  and  foes.  There  arose  great 
danger  of  the  introduction  of  a  political  creed  into  the 
churches,  which  might  have  distracted  them  for  many 
years.  But  the  heat  became  allayed  by  some  judi- 
cious men  on  the  same  side  in  politics ;  who  convinced 
them,  that  instead  of  endeavouring  to  annul  the  last 
election  of  vestrymen,  it  would  be  best  to  let  all  things 
remain  quiet  until  the  next  Easter;  the  time  appointed 
by  charter  for  the  annual  election.  On  the  arrival  of 
that  period,  the  changes  were  very  few ;  and  consisted 


62  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

chiefly  in  restoring  members  who  had  been  left  out, 
for  no  other  reason  than  because,  being  out  of  the  lines, 
they  could  not  attend  to  the  duty." 

The  newly  elected  vestry  declared  the  rectorship 
of  the  united  churches  vacant,  in  consequence  of  Mr 
Duche's  departure;  and  they  unanimously  chose  Mr 
White  rector.  The  manner  in  which  he  accepted  the 
station  exposed  him  to  some  hazard  of  sharing  in  the 
public  resentment  against  his  predecessor ;  and  proved 
his  disinterestedness,  the  steadiness  of  his  friendship, 
and  the  firmness  with  which  he  adhered  to  what  he 
deemed  a  duty,  notwithstanding  evils  which  might  be 
apprehended  from  compliance  with  it.  "This"  (pro- 
ceeding of  the  vestry)  says  he,  "  was  not  unexpected, 
but  placed  me  in  delicate  circumstances,  on  account 
of  my  long  friendship  for  Mr  Duche ;  whose  return, 
considering-  his  attainder,  and  the  indicjnation  excited 
by  the  aforesaid  letter,  was  at  present  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. There  was  run  the  hazard  of  some  share  of  the 
same  indignation,  when  it  was  stated,  in  the  accept- 
ance of  the  rectorship,  that  if  ever  the  former  rector 
should  return  to  this  country,  by  the  permission  of 
the  civil  authority,  and  with  the  wishes  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  churches,  I  should  think  it  my  duty  to 
resign.  It  is  so  entered  on  the  minutes,  at  my  de- 
sire.*    When  he  returned,  in  1792,  his  engaging  in 

*    The  following  is  a  copy  of  Ihe  letter,  taken  from  the  minutes  : 

"  Philadelphia,  April  15,  1779. 
"  Gentlemen : 

"  Your  appointment  of  me  to  the  rectorship  of  the  churches  you  repre- 
sent, is  the  most  honourable  testimonial  my  past  ministry  among  you 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  63 

the  ministerial  duty  was  to  be  despaired  of,  as  you 
must  remember." 

Mr  White's  friendly  and  generous  conduct  towards 
Mr  Duche  and  his  family,  is  thus  acknowledged  by 
that  gentleman,  in  a  letter  dated  at  the  asylum,  Lam- 
beth, 2d  April  1783.  ''An  early  determination,  pru- 
dentially  taken,  to  write  to  no  person  in  Philadelphia, 
but  my  father,  hath  prevented  me,  hitherto,  from  in- 
dulging my  earnest  desire  to  wTite  to  you,  and  many 

can  receive,  except  that  which  with  humble  hope  I  aspire  to  from  our 
Redeemer  and  Judge,  I  accept  it,  therefore,  with  the  full  confidence, 
that  the  same  candour  and  affection  which  you  have  hitherto  manifested 
to  me,  as  your  assistant  minister,  will  be  continued  to  me  in  this  more 
distinguished  and  difficult  station.  At  the  same  time,  be  assured,  gen- 
tlemen, that  I  shall  always  esteem  the  honour  you  have  this  day  con- 
ferred on  me,  an  addition  to  my  many  obligations  to  conduct  myself  in 
such  a  manner,  as  to  receive  your  approbation,  and  satisfy  my  own  con- 
science. 

*'  I  beg  leave  further  to  accompany  my  acceptance  of  the  rectorship 
with  the  declaration,  that  if  ever,  at  the  desire  of  the  vestry  and  members 
in  general  of  these  churches,  and  with  the  permission  of  the  civil  autho- 
rity, the  former  rector  should  return  to  this  country,  I  shall  esteem  it  my 
duty,  and  it  will  be  my  pleasure,  to  resign  it.  The  peculiar  delicacy  of 
my  situation  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  am  taking,  when  I  make  my  earnest 
request  to  the  vestry  that  this  letter  be  recorded  with  their  minutes. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  and  prayers  for  yourselves,  gentlemen,  and 
the  churches  you  represent, 

"  I  am,  your  much  obliged 

and  very  affisctionate,  humble  servant, 

"WILLIAM  WHITE. 

"  To  the  Churchwardens  and  Vestrymen  of  the  united  churches  of 
Christ  Church  and  St  Peter's  Cliurch." 

On  the  20th  of  May  1779,  a  letter  from  a  number  of  the  members  of  the 
congregations,  to  the  vestry,  was  read  at  a  vestry  meeting;  from  which 


64  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

other  valuable  friends.  The  happy  return  of  peace, 
puts  an  end  to  every  obstacle ;  and  I  take  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  congratulate  you  on  an  event,  which 
every  lover  of  humanity,  and  above  all,  every  sincere 
Christian,  hath  long  and  ardently  desired.  In  the 
first  place,  I  most  sincerely  thank  you  for  your  kind 
attention  to  my  dear  family,  whilst  they  remained  in 
Philadelphia.  I  was  happy  to  hear  that  you,  whom 
I  always  loved,  was  among  the  number  of  those  who 
treated  them  with  singular  respect,  and  assisted  them 
in  the  hour  of  difficulty  and  distress.  Such  an  act  of 
friendship  can  never  be  forgotten  by  me.  I  am  also 
to  acknowledge  the  liberal,  generous,  and  Christian 
manner,  in  which  you  accepted  the  rectorship  of  the 
churches,  and  the  affection  you  showed  for  me  by  the 
declaration  you  caused  to  be  entered  on  the  minutes 
of  the  vestry.  Though  I  am  very  comfortably  settled 
here,  yet  my  affection  urges  my  return  to  Philadel- 

the  following  is  an  extract :  "  We  the  subscribers,  members  of  the  con- 
gregations of  Christ  and  St  Peter's  churches,  embrace  this  opportunity 
of  returning  you  our  most  sincere  and  hearty  thanks  for  the  regard  you 
have  manifested  for  the  welfare  of  these  churches,  in  the  appointment  of 
the  Rev.  Mr  William  White  to  be  rector  of  the  same. 

"  It  is  with  pleasure,  gentlemen,  that  we  inform  you  we  foresee  many 
advantages  arising  from  the  nomination  of  so  distinguished  a  character, 
for  his  steady  and  faithful  adherence  to  the  cause  of  virtue  and  liberty,  to 
preside  over  these  churches.  And  were  we  to  omit  giving  you  this  pub- 
lic testimony  of  our  approbation,  we  should  fall  short  of  that  duty  and 
regard  we  owe  to  him,  for  his  past  services,  care  and  attention."  (The 
residue  of  the  letter  suggests  the  propriety  of  calUng  the  congregations 
together  to  judge  whether  any  changes  are  necessary  to  adapt  the  con- 
stitution of  the  churches  to  the  changes  effected  by  the  revolution.) 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  65 

phia,  if  there  should  be  any  prospect  of  its  being  ac- 
complished in  a  way  agreeable  to  my  fellow  citizens, 

to  my  friends  and  myself. If  the  churches  of 

Philadelphia  should  be  desirous  of  receiving  one  of 
their  old  shepherds,  I  am  ready  to  return  to  my  first 
love;  but  then  it  must  be  unanimously,  without  divi- 
sion, with  full  approbation  of  rector  and  vestry.  As 
to  rank  or  title,  I  seek  for  none ;  I  wish  only  to  do  good, 
to  be  made  an  humble  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  God, 
of  converting  sinners,  or  confirming  the  faithful.''  It 
appears  from  subsequent  letters,  that  various  incidents 
occurred,  from  time  to  time,  which  postponed  his  re- 
turn to  Philadelphia  until  the  before  mentioned  period 
of  1792. 

The  friendship  of  Mr  White  for  Mr  Coombe,  his 
colleague  in  the  assistant  ministry  of  the  united 
churches,  has  been  already  mentioned  in  his  own  lan- 
guage. It  is  pleasing  to  be  enabled  to  add  here,  in  a 
part  of  a  letter  of  Mr  Coombe  to  him,  a  proof  of  that 
gentleman's  affection  and  esteem  for  him;  and  that 
their  mutual  friendship  was  not  destroyed  by  their 
difference  in  political  sentiments.  The  letter  is  dated 
the  29th  of  November  1777,  and  was  written  from 
Philadelphia,  while  Mr  White  was  with  his  family  in 
Maryland.  "  Your  worthy  mother  having  been  so 
kind  as  to  apprize  me  of  this  conveyance,  I  could  not 
let  it  pass  without  a  line,  acquainting  you  that  I  am 
still  among  the  living,  and  that  my  affection  for  you 
has  suffered  no  diminution  by  absence,  or  the  differ- 
ence of  our  political  opinions Unhappy  com- 


66  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

motions  prevailing  in  our  country,  and  the  difference 
of  our  ideas  concerning  them,  first  produced  a  coy- 
ness, and  hath,  at  length,  separated  us  from  each  other : 
but  be  assured  that,  amongst  the  friends  whom  you 
have  left  behind,  no  one  more  cordially  regrets  your 
absence  than  myself,  or  is  a  warmer  advocate  for  the 
sincerity  and  consistency  of  your  character.     I  wish 
we  could  have  seen  things  through  the  same  perspec- 
tive; but  since  it  is  otherwise,  let  us  at  least  cherish, 
by  our  example,  sentiments  of  liberality  and  candour, 
and  let  not  public  dissensions  have  the  power  to  obli- 
terate friendships  begun  in  early  youth,  which  have 
grown  up  with  us  to  manhood,  and  which  nothing 
but  the  clear  conviction  of  each  other's  want  of  integ- 
rity, ought  to  destroy.     I  hope  we  may  yet  live  to 
brighten  the  chain  in  happier  days.     At  all  events,  our 
disagreement  on  subjects  of  public  concern,  however 
it  may  furnish  me  with  an  occasion  for  sorrow,  can 
never  lessen  my  regard  for  you.     Thus  much  I  longed 
to  say,  as  my  heart  overflows  with  good  will  to  you, 
and  an  opportunity  of  writing  may  not  happen  again." 
In  1779,  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, the  estates  and  powers  of  the  trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Philadelphia  were  taken  from  them,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  trustees  of  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia,   thereby   established.     Of  this  transaction,  and 
some  circumstances  following  it,  this  account  is  given 
in  the  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart.     "  The  next  material 
incident  of  my  life  was  a  crisis  of  the  concerns  of  the 
College  of  Philadelphia;  of  which  I  had  been  a  trustee 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  67 

about  six  years.  On  this  point  I  shall  be  more  exten- 
sive than  as  it  relates  to  myself;  in  order  to  leave  with 
you  a  document  of  the  view  taken  of  it,  as  the  subject 
relates  to  our  church.  Of  the  concerns  of  this  institu- 
tion, which  is  of  about  the  same  age  with  myself,  I 
know  the  more,  in  consequence,  not  only  of  my  being 
connected  with  it  ten  years  as  a  pupil,  and  now  above 
forty-five  years  as  a  trustee,  but  of  my  having  heard 
much  of  its  earliest  transactions  from  my  father. 

"It  w^as  established  on  what  has  been  called  the 
broad  bottom.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  it  is  impor- 
tant to  a  religious  society  to  have  literary  institutions 
under  its  jurisdiction.  But  they  who  have  supposed 
the  College  of  Philadelphia  to  have  been  Episcopalian, 
are  mistaken.  Still,  the  greater  number  of  the  trus- 
tees were  of  our  denomination;  and  this,  with  some 
other  circumstances,  was  sufficient,  and  apparently 
would  always  be  so,  to  prevent  its  being  under  a  di- 
rection subservient  to  any  other  religious  body.  When 
Dr  Smith  was  collecting  in  England,  Dr  Samuel 
Chandler,  then  the  most  efficient  minister  of  the  dis- 
senting interest,  had  countenanced  the  collection;  but 
having  been  informed,  from  this  side  of  the  water,  of 
apprehensions  lately  excited,  that  the  liberal  founda- 
tion of  the  seminary  was  about  to  be  narrowed  in  fa- 
vour of  the  Church  of  England,  the  matter  drew  the 
serious  attention  of  all  who  had  patronized  the  design 
in  that  country.  The  issue  was  the  framing  of  an  in- 
strument, which  was  signed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  by  the  two  proprietaries,  and  by  the  said 


68  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Dr  Chandler.  It  states  the  above  circumstance;  and, 
in  order  to  allay  the  apprehensions,  recommends  that 
the  trustees  should  make  a  declaration,  to  be  signed 
by  themselves,  and  by  every  trustee  to  be  subsequent- 
ly chosen,  that  the  seminary  should  be  conducted  ac- 
cording to  the  comprehensive  scheme  then  in  opera- 
tion. On  the  arrival  of  this  communication,  although 
it  was  a  measure  never  thought  of  among  the  trustees, 
they  complied  with  the  proposal,  from  respect  for  the 
persons  who  made  it,  and  from  gratitude  for  favours 
received.  Be  the  merits  or  the  demerits  of  the  act 
•what  they  may,  it  was  done  for  the  quieting  of  anti- 
Episcopalian  jealousy ;  and  there  was  not  a  voice  raised 
against  it,  until  the  close  of  the  year  1779;  when  the 
legislature  framed  an  act  grounded  on  this  very  mea- 
sure,* which  was  construed  to  give  the  church  a  pre- 
ference, because  of  the  then  provost's  being  a  clergy- 
man of  it.  The  seminary,  and  all  the  estate,  were 
taken  from  its  trustees,  and  a  new  board  was  con- 
structed, consisting  of  six  officers  of  government,  the 
senior  ministers  of  six  denominations,  and  thirteen 
others  by  name.  In  the  preceding  summer,  the  pre- 
sident of  the  state  had  sent  a  message,  advising  the 


*  It  is  reforred  to  by  the  act  in  the  following  words  :  "  And  whereas 
the  college,  academy,  and  charitable  school  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
were  at  first  founded  on  a  plan  of  free  and  unlimited  Catholicism  ;  but  it 
appears  that  the  trustees  thereof,  by  a  vote  or  by-laws  of  tiieir  board, 
bearing  date  the  14th  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1764,  have 
departed  from  the  plan  of  the  original  founders,  and  narrowed  the  founda- 
tion of  the  said  institution."     Section  2. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  69 

not  holding  of  an  intended  commencement.  But  this 
was  predicated  on  an  alleged  breach  of  the  charter,  by 
a  late  election  of  several  trustees,  who  were  admitted 
to  take  their  seats,  without  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
king.  Compliance  with  the  charter,  in  this  respect, 
was  out  of  the  question;  which  showed,  it  was  said, 
that  the  corporation  could  not  act,  under  the  present 
system  of  things.  It  may  be  supposed,  that  the  futility 
of  this  was  afterwards  perceived ;  the  oath  having  been 
abolished,  but  the  chartered  rights  not  forfeited,  by 
the  revolution.  Accordingly  the  aforesaid  declaration 
was  fastened  on.* 

"  During  the  session  of  the  convention  which  framed 
the  first  republican  constitution  of  this  state,"  (in 
1776)  "  at  the  instance  of  Dr  Smith,  there  was  held, 
at  his  house,  a  meeting  of  sundry  gentlemen  interested 
in  the  inviolability  of  religious  and  scientific  corpora- 
tions. I  was  present.  On  request,  Dr  Franklin,  the 
president  of  the  convention,  met  us;  and  cheerfully 

*  "  It  was  my  opinion,  and  I  still  think,  that  what  principally  gave 
offence  was  the  political  complexion  of  the  trustees  lately  chosen.  They 
were  gentlemen  prominent  in  the  revolution,  but,  in  the  politics  of  the 
state,  opposed  to  those  who  then  governed  it.  Party  spirit  had  risen  to 
a  great  height ;  and  between  the  first  attack  on  the  college,  in  preventing 
the  commencement,  and  the  consummating  of  the  design  by  a  legislative 
act,  had  broken  out  in  violence  involving  bloodshed.  I  allude  to  the 
attack  on  the  house  in  my  neighbourhood,  long  after  known  by  the  name 
of  Fort  Wilson,  so  called  from  the  name  of  my  friend,  who  owned  and 
occupied  it.  When  this  outrage  happened,  I  was  in  Maryland,  attend- 
ing on  the  funeral  of  my  father."  (Note  in  1830.)  An  account  of  the 
attack  is  given  in  the  Life  of  James  Wilson,  in  Delaplaine's  Lives  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
G 


70  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

promised  to  propose  to  the  body  an  article  drawn  up 
by  Dr  Smith,  securing  all  chartered  rights.  The 
article  maybe  seen  in  the  instrument,"  (section  forty- 
five)  "  and,  in  connection  with  the  subsequent  act  of 
assembly,  invading  the  charter  of  the  college,  will 
remain  a  proof  of  the  feebleness  of  constitutional  re- 
straints on  a  sino^le  legislature.  The  convention 
thought  they  had  provided  against  the  danger  of  a 
breach  of  the  constitution,  by  the  expedient  of  a  sep- 
tennial council  of  censors.  When  the  council  met, 
they  were  under  the  political  bias  of  the  former  as- 
sembly. But,  '  quis  custodiet  custodes  ?^  They  accor- 
dingly sanctioned  the  injustice. 

"  It  is  wide  of  my  purpose  to  give  an  account  of  the 
repeal  of  the  act,  in  1788;  of  the  restoration  of  the 
charter  and  of  the  estate ;  and  of  the  subsequent  trans- 
actions of  the  college,  under  the  name  of  '  University.' 
Perhaps,  however,  justice  requires  mention  of  the 
plea,  by  which  members  of  the  legislature  of  1779 
repelled  the  charge  of  perjury ;  for  they  had  all  sworn 
obedience  to  the  constitution.  They  said,  that  the 
estates  were  continued  to  the  promotion  of  science. 
On  a  like  pretence,  they  might  have  seized  on  the 
churches  of  any  offensive  denomination,  continuing 
them  to  the  promoting  of  religion :  themselves  being 
the  judges  how  this  may  best  be  done. 

"  I  was  present*  when  the  subject  was  argued  in 
the  council  of  censors.     Arguments  against  the  legis- 

*     A  note  added  in  1830. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  71 

lative  measure  were  powerfully  urged,  from  the  well 
known  rights  of  chartered  bodies;  and  from  the  article 
in  the  constitution,  framed  for  the  express  purpose  of 
creating  additional  security  to  those  now  existing. 
All  was  made  to  give  way  to  the  plea,  that  the  pro- 
perty would  be  still  applied  to  the  promoting  of  lite- 
rature. Such  is  the  feebleness  of  an  oath,  opposed  to 
passion.  One  benefit,  however,  may  have  arisen  from 
the  event.  It  may  remind  a  rash  legislature,  that 
their  acts  are  liable  to  the  review  of  their  successors. 

"  On  the  evening  but  one  before  the  meeting  of  the 
new  board  of  trustees,  under  the  said  legislative  act,  I 
received  a  message  from  the  president  of  the  state, 
through  my  friend  Mr  Francis  Hopkinson,  who  had 
been  in  the  old  board,  and  was  in  the  new  board  in 
his  official  character,  intimating  that  my  attendance 
being  expected,  as  one  of  the  senior  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  comprehended  by  the  charter,  a  request  wovild 
be  made  to  me  to  open  the  meeting  with  prayer.  Mr 
Hopkinson,  at  my  desire,  and  in  my  presence,  wrote 
to  the  president  information,  that  I  should  not  be  at 
the  first  meeting,  for  reasoixs  which  I  thought  it  the 
most  respectful  to  state  to  his  excellency  in  person; 
and  that  this  should  be  done  within  a  few  days.  He 
thought  it  worth  his  while  to  spend  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  night,  in  drafting  a  long  answer  to  what 
he  supposed  to  be  my  reasons.  This  answer  filled 
several  sheets  of  paper,  which  he  sent  to  Mr  Hopkinson 
for  my  perusal,  but  required  the  return  of  them. 

"Agreeably  to  promise,  I  waited  on  the  president; 


72  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

and  after  reminding  him  of  an  argument  lield  between 
us,  at  the  beginning  of  the  pubUc  procedure,  I  thought 
it  my  duty  to  declare,  that  besides  the  reasons  then 
given  against  it,  there  was  another,  in  the  charge 
made  by  the  legislature  concerning  an  act  to  which 
my  father,  recently  deceased,  had  been  a  party ;  but 
which  that  body,  under   the  influence  of  some  un- 
founded suggestion,  and  not  possessed  of  the  know- 
led  o-e  of  circumstances,  had  misconstrued  and  con- 
demned.     These  things,  I  added,  would  not  hinder, 
that,  being  included  in  my  clerical  capacity,  I  should 
lay  the  case  before  the  vestry  of  the  churches  with 
which  I  was  connected,  and  should  act  agreeably  to 
their  desire.     A  meeting  of  the  vestry  was  called,  re- 
latively to  the  subject.     The  greater  number  of  the 
members  had  not  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
question.     A  few  of  them  had  been  hearers  of  what 
passed  in  the  house  of  assembly ;  and  were  of  opinion 
that  it  was  a  most  arbitrary  act;  but  that,  as  to  a  right 
accruing  under  the  new  arrangement,  it  ought  not  to 
be  lost  to  the  church.     The  vestry  expressed  the  opin- 
ion, that  I  should  attend  the  meetings. 

"  The  new  modelled  institution  had  not  been  long 
in  operation,  when  an  unexpected  scene  opened  to  me. 
The  leaders  in  the  change  had  been  principally  of  the 
Presbyterian  communion,  which  was  also  the  general 
cast  of  the  legislature ;  and  the  contemplated  president, 
who  was  the  Rev.  Dr  Ewing,  had  been  active  in 
bringing  matters  to  the  present  issue.  Without  any 
personal  ill-will  to  him,  or  to  any  other  person,  it  had 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  73 

been  a  source  of  dissatisfaction  with  me,  to  contem- 
plate the  apparent  tendency  to  the  putting  of  the  semi- 
nary under  an  influence,  which  seemed  Ukely  to 
control  all  the  literary  instruction  of  the  United  States. 
But  great  was  my  surprize,  on  finding  that  there  was 
a  corps  of  resistance,  consisting  of  trustees  with  whom 
I  had  held  very  little  intercourse.  It  so  happened, 
that  they  determined  on  pushing  me  to  be  provost; 
and  I  struck  in  with  them,  under  the  hope  that  my 
station  of  rector  might  be  put  on  so  reasonable  a  foot- 
ing, in  point  of  labour  and  of  emolument,  as  that  my 
time  would  be  more  devoted  to  literature,  than  on  any 
other  plan  ought  to  have  been  permitted.  Dr  Ewing 
gained  his  election  by  one  vote.  It  was  that  of  a 
trustee,  whose  vote  in  my  favour  had  been  presumed 
on,  and  who  was  probably  secured  on  the  other  side, 
by  a  circumstance  not  then  generally  known,  but  after- 
wards ascertained.  The  party  had  become  liable  to 
a  prosecution,  by  an  act  done  during  the  possession 
of  the  city  by  the  British  army,  and  known  to  the 
gentlemen  at  the  head  of  the  government.  That  this 
was  the  motive,  cannot  be  positively  affirmed,  but  was 
rendered  probable  by  circumstances.  The  opposite 
side  were  assiduous  in  offering  to  me  their  votes  for 
the  vice-provostship,  but  my  zeal  did  not  carry  me 
quite  so  far  as  to  comply.  After  all,  the  ecclesiastical 
ascendency  proved  to  be  far  short  of  what  had  been 
apprehended. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1782,  I  received  the  honour  of  a 
doctorate  from  the  university;  and  was  the  first  per- 


74  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

son,  on  whom  that  degree  was  conferred  by  the  insti- 
tution. 

"The  injustice  done  to  the  college*  gave  birth  to 
the  Episcopal  Academy;  which  would  have  greatly 
flourished,  but  for  two  causes.  One  was — what  I  had 
no  opportunity  of  opposing,  it  being  during  my  ab- 
sence in  England — the  projecting  of  a  building  which 
was  disproportioned  to  the  object,  and  which  the  sums 
subscribed  did  not  warrant.  But  the  principal  cause 
was  the  legislative  act  of  justice,  in  restoring  to  the 
former  trustees  of  the  college  their  chartered  rights 
and  their  estate.  From  the  wreck  of  the  property  of 
the  academy,  there  has  been  rescued  a  remnant  of  it, 
which  may  be  made  essentially  serviceable  to  the 
Episcopal  church,  whenever  there  shall  be  a  vigour  of 
endeavour  tending  to  that  end." 

The  internal  dangers  arising  from  the  operation  of 
political  principles,  tending  to  produce  dissension  in 
the  church,  were  mentioned  in  preceding  pages. 
Others  were  produced  by  the  existence  of  warm  poli- 
tical parties  in  the  country.  The  jealousy  of  those 
then  in  possession  of  the  powers  of  government  in  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  was  excited,  and  their  unfriendly 
opposition  might  be  apprehended,  in  consequence  of 
a  suspicion  that  political  principles  had  been  combined 
among  Episcopalians,  with  religious;  and  that  they 
had  been  led,  by  the  latter,  to  unite  generally  with  the 
party  opposed  to  the  existing  government  of  the  state. 

*     Note  added  in  1830. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  75 

The  contending  parties  were  then  distinguished  by 
the  names  of  Constitutionalists  and  Republicans :  the 
former  advocating  the  principles  of  the  constitution 
framed  for  Pennsylvania  in  1776,  and  being  in  pos- 
session of  the  offices  of  government;  and  the  other 
disapproving  of  those  principles,  particularly  those  of 
a  numerous  executive,  a  single  legislature,  and  a  de- 
pendent judiciary,  holding  their  commissions  for  only 
seven  years,  but  capable  of  a  reappointment  by  the 
executive  council.  The  republicans  carried  their 
opposition  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  hold  offices  under  that 
constitution;  and  party  feelings  were  highly  excited. 
Dr  White's  own  sentiments  were  favourable  to  the 
republican  party,  though  maintained  with  moderation 
and  calmness.  He  was  very  independent  in  forming 
his  political  opinions,  and  reflected  upon  them  for 
himself  And  though  he  freely  expressed  them,  with 
his  reasons  for  maintaining  them,  and  also  constantly, 
and  from  a  sense  of  duty  as  a  citizen,  gave  his  vote  at 
elections,  he  would  never  condescend  to  become  an 
active  political  partisan ;  much  less  to  make  religious 
profession  an  instrument  of  policy.  He  was  decidedly 
opposed  to  the  combination  of  religion  with  politics, 
and  desired  that  the  members  of  the  Episcopal  church 
should  harmoniously  unite,  in  conducting  their  eccle- 
siastical affairs,  without  regard  to  their  differences  in 
political  opinions;  and  he  used  his  influence  among 
them  to  effect  that  desirable  object.  He  was  led, 
however,  in  consequence  of  his  situation  in  the  church, 
to  defend  her  interests  from  the  evils  to  be  apprehended 


76  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

from  the  suspicion  above  mentioned.  For  that  pur- 
pose, a  correspondence  took  place  between  him  and 
General  Joseph  Reed,  the  president  of  the  supreme 
executive  council.  This  was  conducted  in  a  polite 
and  friendly  manner,  and  with  very  respectful  senti- 
ments expressed  by  General  Reed  of  Dr  White's  cha- 
racter and  principles  personally.  As  these  circum- 
stances are  introduced  only  to  exhibit  the  temper  and 
principles  of  Dr  White,  and  his  attentive  care  of  the 
welfare  of  the  church  of  v^^hich  he  was  the  senior  mi- 
nister, some  extracts  from  his  only  remaining  letter  to 
the  president,  dated  January  31,  1783,  are  here  in- 
serted. 

"  I  hope  you  will  not  think  me  impertinent,  in  re- 
questing your  attention  to  a  distinction,  which  was 
perhaps  obscurely  expressed  in  my  last,  between  your 
being  opposed,  on  account  of  your  religious  profession, 
and  the  opposition  on  this  principle  proceeding  prin- 
cipally, if  not  exclusively,  from  the  members  of  the 
Episcopal  churches:  the  former,  I  told  you,  I  had  no 
reason  to  believe,  though  it  was  not  my  intention  to 
remark  on  it;  and  the  latter,  I  was  sure,  you  never 
meant  to  assert;  the  reason  for  both  was  my  observing 
among  the  opponents  of  the  late  administration,  many 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  my  know- 
ing many  of  its  advocates  in  the  churches  with  which 
I  am  connected.  There  never  existed  a  dispute,  in 
this  state  or  province,  in  which  these  societies  were, 
as  such,  in  opposition. 

"  I  believe  that  you  abhor  the  introduction  of  reli- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  77 

gious  ideas  into  politics,  and  can  add,  with  truth,  that 
so  do  I.  No  doubt  it  is  necessary,  in  pubUc  elections, 
to  have  a  mixture  of  men  of  different  religious  socie- 
ties; but  this  is  to  avert  the  evil  which  we  abhor; 
because  we  know  there  are  men  of  every  society,  who, 
if  they  had  the  power,  would  appoint  none  but  those 
of  their  own  to  places  of  power  and  profit. 

"  Defamation  is,  I  trust  (as  you  are  so  kind  as  to 
believe),  abhorrent  to  my  disposition:  both  parties 
agree  in  charging  the  principal  guilt  of  it  each  on  the 
other.  Having  all  along  conversed  familiarly  with 
some  gentlemen  on  either  side,  and  been  convinced 
that  each  imagined  the  other  to  harbour  more  resent- 
ment than  appeared  to  me  to  exist,  I  have  always 
hoped  that  the  day  would  come,  w^hen  either  mutual 
explanation,  or  social  intercourse  without  explanation, 
would  efface  their  prejudices. 

"  I  am  not,  sir,  without  uneasiness  from  the  appre- 
hension of  my  being  troublesome.  If  I  am,  you  will 
candidly  impute  it  to  the  true  cause.  Having  always 
endeavoured,  in  my  ecclesiastical  employment,  to  im- 
press the  idea  of  an  agreement  in  religious  concerns, 
where  difference  exists  as  to  the  civil,  and  having  ob- 
served our  church  members  of  opposite  parties  har- 
moniously promoting  the  good  of  our  communion,  it 
hurt  me  to  see  even  an  apparent  imputation  of  mixing 
religion  and  politics,  applied  chiefly,  if  not  only,  to 
this  quarter :  for  the  churches  which  I  serve  contain  a 
great  majority  of  the  Episcopalians  in  this  city;  the 
only  part  of  the  state  in  which  any  considerable  so- 
ciety of  them  is  to  be  found." 


78  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

By  the  events  of  the  revolution,  Dr  White  suffered 
considerably  in  his  property;  principally  by  the  de- 
preciation of  the  paper  currency,  but  which,  notwith- 
standing, continued  to  be  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of 
debts.  "  My  father,"  says  he,  "  being  an  exact  judge 
of  the  value  of  his  lands,  whenever  he  could  sell  any 
of  them  to  advantage,  brought  the  proceeds  to  this 
city,  and  lent  them  on  bonds  and  mortgages.  It  was 
discreet  to  do  so,  as  he  could  not  have  foreseen  the 
losses,  which  would  be  the  result  of  the  depreciation 
of  paper  currency,  in  an  event  not  then  likely  to  hap- 
pen, the  war  of  the  revolution.  It  became  a  serious 
loss  to  his  children;  although  at  his  death,  in  Septem- 
ber 1779,  he  left  to  them  what  was  thought  no  incon- 
siderable property  at  that  time.  What  with  the  loss 
of  almost  all  I  possessed  from  his  bounty  at  the  time 
of  my  marriage,  and  of  Mrs  White's  share  of  her  fa- 
ther's fortune,  and  with  my  proportion  of  the  loss  sus- 
tained by  my  father  during  his  life,  I  have  always 
supposed  that  I  suffered  by  the  said  disaster,  not  less 
than  to  the  amount  of  ten  thousand  pounds;  as  money 
was  then  called"  (twenty-six  thousand  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents). 

An  incident  occurring  when  one  of  those  bonds 
was  discharged  furnishes  one  of  the  very  few  in- 
stances in  which  he  in  some  measure  yielded  to  warmth 
of  feeling,  excited  by  injurious  conduct  towards  him- 
self; but  which,  probably,  will  be  generally  thought 
warranted  by  a  just  indignation  at  the  dishonesty  and 
hypocrisy  of  the  parties  concerned.     The  man  in- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  79 

debted  to  Mm  on  the  said  bond,  called,  in  company 
with  his  wife,  to  discharge  it;  at  a  time  when  the 
continental  money  was  so  far  depreciated,  that  there 
was  a  general  reluctance,  even  in  those  not  marked  by 
their  regard  for  moral  honesty,  to  offer  payment  in 
such  a  currency.  These  individuals  made  a  very 
high  profession  of  religion.  When  Dr  White  remon- 
strated with  them  on  the  dishonesty  of  their  conduct, 
in  offering  to  pay  the  debt  in  such  a  mode,  they  re- 
plied that  it  was  their  duty  to  take  care  of  and  provide 
for  their  family.  He  was  under  the  legal  necessity 
of  accepting  the  money  offered.  And  they  left  him, 
using  some  canting  language  expressive  of  their 
wishes  for  his  welfare,  spiritual  and  temporal.  His 
indignation  at  their  behaviour,  was  expressed  by  a  call 
to  his  servant,  in  their  hearing,  to  see  that  there  were 
no  silver  spoons  in  the  entry,  while  those  persons  were 
passing  through  it.  This  was,  however,  the  effect  of 
unusual  excitement;  for  he  was  distinguished  by  his 
mildness,  courtesy  and  self-command.  The  incident 
is  well  knowm  to  his  family,  and  was  related  to  me  by 
himself,  without  naming  the  individuals. 

When  peace  was  concluded,  in  January  1783,  mea- 
sures were  contemplated  by  some  of  the  few  remain- 
ing clergy  of  the  Episcopal  church,  for  effecting  its 
revival  and  organization.  In  these  Dr  White  took  an 
active,  influential  and  useful  part;  and  his  concern  in 
them  led  to  the  most  important  and  interesting  trans- 
actions of  his  life.  Great  difficulties  existed  in  the 
way  of  a  successful  prosecution  of  this  object,  arising 


80  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

from  the  condition  of  the  country ;  from  strong  preju- 
dices generally  prevailing  against  that  church,  partly 
from  her  former  connection  with  the  established 
Church  of  England,  and  partly  from  opposition  to  her 
principles  of  ecclesiastical  government;  and  from  the 
wbM  of  union  in  opinions  and  feeling  among  Episco- 
palians themselves,  in  the  different  states.  To  over- 
come these,  Dr  White  laboured  assiduously;  and  his 
well  known  character  and  principles,  and  his  wise 
course  of  conduct,  enabled  him  to  be  signally  useful, 
in  gradually  obviating  the  difficulties,  and  successfully 
completing  the  desired  organization.  An  extensive 
correspondence  took  place  between  him  and  the  influ- 
ential friends  of  the  church  in  the  several  states.  To 
him  their  varying,  and  in  several  respects  opposing 
opinions  were  communicated;  and  he  zealously  en- 
deavoured, with  prudence,  abilities  and  perseverance, 
aided  by  the  confidence  reposed  in  him,  to  produce 
mutual  confidence  and  friendly  feelings,  an  harmo- 
nious union,  and  as  general  a  concurrence  of  senti- 
ment as  can  be  reasonably  expected  in  large  bodies  of 
men.  The  important  facts  contained  in  this  corres- 
pondence, and  such  parts  of  it  as  he  thought  expedient 
to  publish  at  large,  have  been  inserted  in  his  Memoirs 
of  the  Church. 

To  illustrate  his  course,  it  will  be  proper  to  intro- 
duce the  circumstances  of  a  previous  transaction, 
which  was  often  afterwards  a  subject  of  discussion. 
Before  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  the  condition  of 
the   church,  and  the   apparent  danger  of  her  total 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  81 

dissolution,  had  drawn  his  serious  and  anxious  atten- 
tion ;  and  his  mind  had  been  engaged  in  devising  a 
plan  for  her  preservation,  by  an  organization  of  her 
government  adapted  to  existing  circumstances.  And 
early  in  August  1782,  ''despairing  of  a  speedy  ac- 
knowledgement of  our  independence,  although  there 
was  not  likely  to  be  more  of  war,  and  perceiving  our 
ministry  gradually  approaching  to  annihilation,"*  he 
wrote  and  published  a  small  pamphlet,  entitled,  "The 
Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  considered."  At  that 
period,  the  late  debates  in  the  British  Parliament,  and 
the  conciliatory  propositions  communicated  by  Sir 
Guy  Carlton  and  Admiral  Digby,  had  produced  a 
general  expectation  that  hostilities  would  cease.  But 
as  those  propositions  did  not  contain  an  acknowledge- 
ment of  the  independence  of  the  colonies,  congress 
refused  to  enter  into  a  negotiation  on  them.  The 
first  transaction,  which  opened  the  prospect  of  peace 
with  the  recognition  of  our  independence,  was  a  letter 
from  general  Carlton  to  the  commander  in  chief  of  the 
American  army,  dated  August  2d,  1782,  and  commu- 
nicated to  congress,  and  read  on  the  8th  of  August. 
Before  any  knowledge  of  this,  the  pamphlet  was  pub- 
lished and  advertised  on  the  6th  of  August,  and  some 
copies  had  been  distributed  a  few  days  before.  These 
dates  are  necessary  to  explain  the  views  of  the  author ; 
which  were  directed  only  to  a  temporary  organization, 
called  for  by  an  existing  necessity,  but  allowed  to  be 

*     Letter  to  Bishop  Ilobart. 
H 


82  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

imperfect,  and  designed  to  be  completed  as  soon  as 
an  opportunity  should  occur.  But  it  was  perceived  to 
be  impracticable,  at  that  time,  to  obtain  the  Episcopal 
succession.  This  could  not  be  expected  from  any 
British  bishops;  nor  would  an  intercourse  with  their 
church  be  regarded  without  jealousy  in  the  United 
States.  Should  application  be  made  to  any  other 
Episcopal  church,  the  apprehension  of  the  resentment 
of  Great  Britain  would  present,  it  was  thought,  an 
insurmountable  difficulty.  Under  such  circumstances 
the  pamphlet  was  written.  In  an  appendix  to  his 
episcopal  charge,  in  1807,  the  Bishop  expresses  still 
his  belief,  "that  under  the  state  of  things  contemplated, 
some  such  expedient  as  that  proposed  must  have  been 
resorted  to ;  although,  had  the  proposal  been  delayed 
a  little  longer,  the  happy  change  of  prospects  would 
have  prevented  the  appearance  of  the  pamphlet,  unless 
with  considerable  alterations." 

The  general  principles  embraced  were,  that  the 
church  should  be  free  from  subjection  to  any  spiritual 
jurisdiction  connected  with  the  temporal  authority  of 
a  foreign  state ;  that  every  thing  should  be  avoided 
which  might  give  the  churches  the  appearance  of 
being  subservient  to  party,  or  tend  to  unite  their  mem- 
bers on  questions  of  a  civil  nature ;  that  the  laity  as 
well  as  the  clergy  should  have  a  share  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church;  that  the  power  of  electing  the 
superior  order  of  ministers  ought  to  be  in  the  clergy 
and  laity  together,  they  being  both  interested  in  the 
choice;  that  the  deprivation  of  the  superior  order  of 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  83 

clergy  should  also  be  in  the  church  at  large,  without 
any  interference  of  the  civil  authority;  that  is,  "de- 
privation can  only  be  under  regulations  enacted  by  a 
fair  representation  of  the  churches,  and  by  an  autho- 
rity entirely  ecclesiastical;"  that  there  should  be  an 
equality  among  the  parochial  churches,  and  not,  as  in 
England,  the  subjection  of  the  parish  churches  to  their 
respective  cathedrals ;  and  each  church  should  retain 
every  power  that  need  not  be  delegated  for  the  good 
of  the  whole;  and  that,  as  the  churches  were  unable 
to  provide  a  support  for  the  superior  order  of  clergy, 
the  duties  assigned  to  that  order  ought  not  materially 
to  interfere  with  their  employments  as  parochial  cler- 
gymen, and  tht  ir  superintendence  should  consequent- 
ly be  confined  to  small  districts. 

The  particular  organization  then  proposed,  compre- 
hended permanent  superintending  ministers,  with 
powers  similar  to  those  of  bishops :  and  the  provisions 
suggested  were,  that  the  individual  churches  should 
be  associated  in  small  districts,  in  each  of  which  there 
should  be  a  convention  composed  of  representatives 
elected  from  the  vestry  or  congregation  of  the  several 
churches  within  it,  the  minister  being  one;  that  they 
should  choose  a  permanent  president,  who,  with  other 
clergymen  appointed  by  the  body,  might  exercise 
powers  purely  spiritual ;  in  particular,  those  of  ordi- 
nation, and  discipline  over  the  clergy,  according  to 
reasonable  laws:  that  the  United  States  should  be  di- 
vided into  three  larger  districts,  in  each  of  which 
should  be  an  annual  assembly,  consisting  of  members 


84  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

sent  from  the  smaller  districts  within  it,  equally  com- 
posed of  clergy  and  laity,  and  voted  for  by  those  or- 
ders promiscuously,  the  presiding  clergyman  being 
always  one :  and  that  there  should  be  a  body  repre- 
senting the  whole  church,  consisting  of  members  from 
each  of  the  larger  districts,  of  clergy  and  laity  equally, 
and  among  the  clergy  equally  of  presiding  ministers 
and  others,  to  meet  statedly  once  in  three  years :  the 
use  of  this  and  of  the  preceding  representative  bodies 
being  to  make  such  regulations,  and  receive  appeals 
in  such  matters  only  as  shall  be  judged  necessary  for 
their  continuing  one  religious  communion. 

As  to  episcopacy,  he  held  that  the  churches  were 
not  to  depart  from  episcopal  government.  But  as  the 
succession  could  not  "at  present  be  obtained,  his  re- 
commendation was  "  to  include  in  the  proposed  frame 
of  government  a  general  approbation  of  episcopacy, 
and  a  declaration  of  an  intention  to  procure  the  suc- 
cession as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be;  but  in  the 
mean  time  to  carry  the  i)lan  into  effect,  without  wait- 
ing for  the  succession"  (p.  17) :  and  when  "the  epis- 
copal succession"  was  "  afterwards  obtained,  any  sup- 
posed imperfections  of  the  intermediate  ordinations 
might,  if  it  were  judged  proper,  be  supplied,  without 
acknowledging  their  nullity,  by  a  conditional  ordina- 
tion, resembling  that  of  conditional  baptism  in  the 
liturgy;"  which  "  was  an  expedient  proposed  by  Arch- 
bishop Tillotson,  Bishops  Patrick,  Stillingfleet  and 
others,  at  the  revolution,  and  had  been  actually  prac- 
tised in  Ireland  by  Archbishop  Bramhall"  (pp.  19,  20). 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  85 

He  maintained  the  propriety  of  not  waiting  for  the 
episcopal  succession,  on  the  ground  that  the  w^orship 
of  God,  and  the  instruction  and  reformation  of  the 
people,  are  the  principal  objects  of  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline ;  and  these  paramount  objects  should  not  be  re- 
linquished or  suspended  by  scrupulous  adherence  to 
episcopacy,  when  there  was  an  inability  to  procure  it : 
and  that  all  the  obligations  of  conformity  to  the  divine 
ordinances,  all  the  arguments  which  prove  the  con- 
nection between  public  worship  and  the  morals  of  a 
people,  combined  to  urge  the  adopting  of  some  speedy 
measures  to  provide  for  the  public  ministry  in  these 
churches.  He  went  at  large  into  the  proofs,  from  the 
institutions  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  from  the 
opinions  and  reasonings  of  many  of  her  most  eminent 
divines,  that  such  a  temporary  departure  from  episco- 
pacy, in  a  case  of  necessity,  was  not  opposed  to  her 
principles. 

It  is  observable  that  most  of  the  principles  main- 
tained by  him  in  that  pamphlet,  were  incorporated 
into  the  constitution  subsequently  adopted;  and  some 
others  may,  in  future,  be  found  expedient.*  But  his 
sentiments  on  episcopacy  became,  at  subsequent 
periods,  the  subjects  of  remarks  and  objections.  They 
were  misunderstood  by  an  anti-Episcopalian  writer, 

*  In  his  Memoirs  of  the  Church  (2cl  ed.,  p.  392,  at  the  top)  is  a  re- 
mark which  appears  to  refer  to  one  of  these  :  that  in  which  it  is  proposed 
that  the  United  States  should  be  divided  into  several  districts,  with  ec- 
clesiastical assemblies  in  each  (for  certain  objects)  superior  to  the  dio- 
cesan and  inferior  to  the  general  convention, 
H* 


86  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

ill  a  controversy  which  took  place  in  New  York,  in 
the  year  1805;  who  made  quotations  from  the  pam- 
phlet in  such  a  manner  as  to  convey  sentiments  very 
different  from  those  intended :  as  if,  indeed,  the  author 
abandoned  the  claims  of  the  apostolical  institution  of 
episcopacy,  and  the  general  obligation  of  retaining  it ; 
whereas  he  only  recommended  a  temporary  departure 
on  account  of  an  evident  existing  necessity.  The 
writer  referred  to  candidly  corrected  the  representa- 
tions, which  were  pointed  out  to  him  as  mistakes. 
But  even  a  temporary  departure,  for  that  cause,  was 
censured  by  some  of  the  author's  brethren  among  the 
clergy,  as  inadmissible,  because  contrary  to  Scripture, 
and  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  England.  Yet 
he  constantly  retained  his  opinion  that,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  departure  was  agreeable  to  both. 
The  subject  was  often  discussed,  both  in  conversation 
and  correspondence,  between  him  and  his  friend  Bi- 
shop Hobart,  who  always  supported  the  opposite  opin- 
ion; but  without  effect  on  either.  In  his  episcopal 
charges  of  1807  and  1834,  Bishop  White  introduced 
similar  doctrines.  And  in  a  note  added,  with  the  date 
of  the  21st  of  December  1830,  to  the  letter  to  Bishop 
Hobart  giving  an  account  of  the  incidents  of  his  early 
life,  he  has  inserted  these  remarks :  '"  In  agreement 
with  the  sentiments  expressed  in  that  pamphlet,  I  am 
still  of  opinion,  that  in  an  exigency  in  which  a  duly 
authorized  ministry  cannot  be  obtained,  the  paramount 
duty  of  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  the  worshipping  of 
God  on  the  terms  of  the  Christian  covenant,  should  go 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  87 

on,  in  the  best  manner  which  circumstances  permit. 
In  regard  to  the  episcopacy,  I  think  that  it  should  be 
sustained,  as  the  government  of  the  Church  from  the 
time  of  the  Apostles,  but  without  criminating  the 
ministry  of  other  churches :  as  is  the  course  taken  by 
the  Church  of  England."  Before  his  visit  to  England 
for  consecration,  he  knew  that  his  pamphlet  had  been 
in  the  hands  of  the  Archbishop  of  York,  a  predecessor 
of  the  prelate  who  assisted  at  his  consecration.  It 
had  been  enclosed  also  to  Mr  Adams,  the  American 
minister,  wdien  the  address  of  the  convention  of  1785, 
to  the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  England,  was  offi- 
cially sent  to  him,  and  was  delivered  by  him  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Dr  Moore.  The  latter  did 
not  express  any  dissatisfaction  with  the  pamphlet,  or 
with  the  author  on  its  account;  nor  has  any  other 
prelate,  so  far  as  is  known.*  After  the  publication  of 
it,  a  copy  was  sent  to  Dr  (afterwards  Bishop)  Pro- 
voost,  at  Dr  White's  desire,  by  Mr  Duane,  then  in 
congress.  This  produced  a  letter  from  that  gentleman 
to  Mr  Duane,  approbatory  of  the  pamphlet,  and  men- 
tioninor  some  facts  which  the  author  thouo^ht  much  to 
the  purpose  of  the  main  object  of  it.f 

When  peace  was  happily  concluded,  and  our  inde- 
pendence acknowledged,  not  long  after  the  publication 
of  the  pamphlet,  the  temporary  plan  therein  proposed 
was  immediately  relinquished  by  the  author  himself. 
The  necessity,  on  the  existence  of  which  it  was  based, 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  83,  84. 

t    Letter  to  Bishop  Hobart,  of  17th  October  1805. 


88  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

did  not  seem  any  longer  to  continue;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  prospect  appeared  to  be  opened  of  procuring 
the  means  for  organizing  the  church  completely  on 
episcopal  principles.  His  views  were,  therefore,  now 
directed  to  measures  for  obtaining  the  episcopal  suc- 
cession ;  uniting  in  one  body  the  scattered  members  of 
our  church ;  framing  for  its  government  a  constitution 
and  laws ;  and  making  such  alterations  in  the  liturgy, 
as  would  be  adapted  to  its  new  situation. 

In  devising  and  conducting  all  the  measures  for 
these  important  objects,  the  subject  of  this  Memoir  is 
universally  acknowledged  to  have  taken  a  very  wise 
and  conspicuous  part.  This  is  claimed  for  him  with- 
out any  intention  of  diminishing  the  honour  due  to 
the  other  good  and  able  men  who  were  associated  with 
him ;  who  were  engaged  likewise,  with  zeal  and  ability, 
in  promoting  the  same  interesting  objects;  and  who 
manifested,  in  various  instances,  a  spirit  of  union  and 
conciliation,  by  mutually  yielding,  for  the  sake  of 
harmony,  their  own  opinions  respecting  points  on 
which  differences  occurred,  where  they  could  yield 
without  violating  the  dictates  of  conscience.  For  the 
prevalence  of  this  spirit,  the  church  was,  indeed,  greatly 
indebted  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  Dr  White,  and 
to  the  confidence  generally  and  justly  placed  in  the 
purity  and  disinterestedness  of  his  purposes,  directed 
singly  to  the  benefit  of  the  whole  body. 

It  is  proper  here  to  view  the  situation  of  the  episco- 
pal church  at  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  with  respect  both  to  the  advantages  which  she 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  89 

enjoyed,  and  to  the  difficulties  under  which  she  la- 
boured, in  completing  the  desired  union  and  organiza- 
tion. 

The  advantages  to  be  mentioned  were  of  much  im- 
portance, and  of  a  very  interesting  character.  One 
arose  from  the  perfect  religious  freedom  established  in 
the  United  States,  without  any  control  exercised  by 
the  civil  authority  over  spiritual  concerns.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  every  denomination  was  held  to  pos- 
sess the  full  power  of  regulating  for  itself  the  ecclesi- 
astical government,  discipline,  and  worship  within  it; 
and  of  promoting,  by  every  lawful  means,  its  religious 
welfare  and  improvement,  without  being  subject  to 
obstructions,  or  other  disadvantages  arising  from  the 
connection  of  religion  v/ith  secular  policy.  On  these 
subjects  our  constitutions  gave  no  powers  to  the  civil 
government.  Its  protection  was  extended  to  all;  and 
their  religious  privileges  were  secured,  and  guarded 
from  the  encroachment  of  others.  A  second  advantage 
was,  that  the  church  was  providentially  relieved  from 
the  incumbrance  of  the  ecclesiastical  or  canon  law. 
This  system,  which  prevailed  in  England,  had  been 
chiefly  framed  in  the  middle  and  subsequent  ages ; 
and  by  its  principles  had  superseded  the  more  pure, 
wise  and  simple  rules  of  law  and  government  esta- 
blished in  the  early  ages  of  the  church;  had  intro- 
duced many  corruptions ;  had  become,  by  length  of 
time  and  numerous  additions  and  alterations,  very 
complicated  and  difficult,  prescribed  an  intricate  and 
dilatory  course  of  proceedings  in  ecclesiastical  causes, 


90  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

and  contained  many  rules  which  a  change  of  time  and 
circumstances  had  rendered  unsuitable,  or  even  inju- 
rious, but  which  were  still  obligatory.     The  burthen 
of  this  system  had  been  long  felt  and  complained  of 
in  the  parent  church.     Her  first  reformers  were  very 
desirous  of  introducing  a  reformation  of  it.     Commis- 
sioners were  appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  a  plan 
was  even  prepared,  but  was  never  adopted  by  authority. 
The  attempts  to  effect  a  reformation  were  often  re- 
peated, without  success.     Though  partial  improve- 
ments or  alterations  have  been  occasionally  made,  yet 
the  system  continues — or  at  least  did  continue  at  the 
period  of  our  revolution — to  possess  tlie  same  general 
character,  and  to  need  an  extensive  reformation.     But 
by  the  situation  in  which  the  church  was  placed  in 
the  United  States,   she  was   providentially  released 
from  the  obligation  of  that  law.     It  Avas  never  trans- 
ferred to  America.     It  was  inapplicable  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  country.     Our  churches  were  free  from 
subjection  to  any  foreign  dominion,  ecclesiastical  or 
temporal.     We  had  no  established  church  connected 
with  the  state,  and  possessed  of  powers  derived  from 
it,  in  addition  to  those  of  a  spiritual  nature.     We  had 
no  ecclesiastical  courts.     That  part  of  their  jurisdic- 
tion which  related  to  the  discipline  of  the  church  itself, 
existed  nowhere  :  and  other  subjects  belonging  to  their 
jurisdiction,  such  as  cases  of  marriage  and  divorce, 
testaments  and  administrations,  and  offences  against 
religion,  so  far  as  they  are  noticed  and  punished  by 
the  civil  laws,  had  been  placed  under  that  of  the  civil 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  91 

courts.     All  the  authority  which  had  been  exercised 
in  the  episcopal  church  was  of  a  purely  spiritual  cha- 
racter, and  was,  besides,  of  very  inconsiderable  extent. 
The   episcopal  churches   within  the   colonies   were 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  who 
was  their  diocesan.     But  the  only  powers  exercised 
by  him,  and  these  solely  in  consequence  of  voluntary 
submission,  were  those  of  ordination,   and  in  some 
small  degree,  through  his  commissaries,  of  discipline 
over   the   clergy.     Being   thus  unembarrassed,    and 
having  full  power  to  form,  modify,  or  change  her  insti- 
tutions, on  subjects  not  settled  by  Scripture,  but  left 
to  human  regulation,  as  her  circumstances  rendered 
expedient;  our  church  could  proceed  to  frame  a  plan 
of  government  and  laws  best  suited  to  her  condition, 
and  fitted  to  promote  her  enlargement  and  improve- 
ment, without  interference  from  any  other  quarter; 
and  with  the  benefit  of  the  guidance  of  primitive  ex- 
ample, and  of  the  experience  of  the  church  in  different 
ages  illustrating  the  practical  effects  of  the  various 
laws  which  had  from  time  to  time  been  established. 
A  third  advantage  was  that  she  had  been,  and  conti- 
nued in  possession  of  the  excellent  articles,  liturgy, 
and  other  institutions  of  the  Church  of  England,  rela- 
tive to  doctrine,  worship,  and  all  the  sacred  oflices; 
except  so  far  as  they  were  necessarily  changed  by  the 
principles  of  our  civil  revolution ;  with  full  power  to 
modify  them  to  suit  her  circumstances,  and  to  improve 
them  if  necessary.     With  these  combined  advantages 
when  her  organization  after  the  revolution  was  com- 


92  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

menced,  she  possessed,  perhaps,  the  fairest  opportu- 
nity, if  wisely  improved,  which  has  occurred  since 
the  days  of  the  Apostles,  of  organizing  a  church  upon 
the  pure  and  simple  principles  of  the  primitive  ages 
of  Christianity.  And  she  had  among  her  members, 
both  clergy  and  laity,  men  of  learning  and  intelligence, 
disposed  and  able  to  give  efficient  aid  in  attaining  that 
object. 

But  notwithstanding  these  advantages,  there  were 
no  small  difficulties  to  be  encountered ;  requiring  zeal 
and  wisdom,  and  perseverance  to  overcome  them. 
They  were,  however,  such  that  a  hope  was  reasonably 
entertained,  with  respect  to  some,  that  they  might  soon 
be  obviated;  that  others,  produced  principally  by  pre- 
vailing prejudices,  and  not  by  reasonable  causes, 
would  be  gradually  removed  by  time  and  better  know- 
ledge; and  that  others,  arising  from  differences  of  opin- 
ion among  Episcopalians  themselves,  would  be  dissi- 
pated by  mutual  explanations,  and  by  a  spirit  of  con- 
ciliation which  attachment  to  the  church  and  desire  to 
unite  and  consolidate  it  might  be  expected  to  excite. 
The  expectations  entertained  on  these  points  were  not 
disappointed.  The  difficulties  gradually  disappeared. 
Most  of  them  were  within  a  few  years  overcome. 
And  though  a  considerable  time  was  requisite  to  affi^rd 
sufficient  opportunities  of  manifesting  the  true  prin- 
ciples, and  the  operation  in  practice,  of  the  adopted 
system  of  government  and  worship,  and  thereby  re- 
moving the  prejudices  of  others,  and  cherishing  among 
themselves  a  general  agreement  in  opinion  on  points 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  93 

of  importance,  and  more  especially  a  spirit  of  harmony, 
affection  and  mutual  confidence,  combined  with  a  love 
of  union;  yet  all  this  was  finally  eff"ected.  And  the 
subject  of  this  Memoir  enjoyed  the  high  satisfaction, 
long  before  his  decease,  of  beholding  the  church, 
which  was,  at  this  time,  revived  principally  by  his 
influence  and  labours,  become  enlarged  and  flourish- 
ing, harmoniously  united  within  itself,  and  attracting 
the  respect  of  other  denominations,  and  general  confi- 
dence. 

The  apprehended  difficulties  arose  from  various 
causes.  One  of  them  was  the  unpopularity  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  in  consequence  partly  of  her  former 
connection  with  the  established  Church  of  England, 
and  an  apprehension  that  if  bishops  were  consecrated 
by  that  church  for  her,  a  subjection  to  them,  or  at  least 
an  undue  influence,  w^ould  be  the  result ;  and  partly  of 
an  opinion  unreasonably  formed,  that  episcopacy  itself 
was  unfriendly  to  the  political  principles  of  our  re- 
publican governments.  To  which  may  be  added  the 
fact,  that  many  of  her  clergy  had  been  led,  by  consci- 
entious scruples,  to  adhere  to  the  British  government 
and  leave  the  country;  while  others,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  same  scruples,  though  they  remained  here 
and  quietly  submitted  to  the  established  governments, 
disapproved  of  the  revolution.  The  prejudices  occa- 
sioned by  these  circumstances  did  not  affect  only  those 
unconnected  with  the  Episcopal  church,  but  existed 
also,  in  a  measure,  among  her  own  members.  So 
strong  were  they  in  South  Carolina,  that  the  consent 
I 


94  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

of  the  Episcopalians  of  that  state  to  a  general  uiiioii, 
was  in  danger  of  being  lost  by  their  apprehensions  of 
the  consequences  of  the  introduction  of  bishops  conse- 
crated by  those  of  a  foreign  country ;  and  it  was  ob- 
tained only  by  a  prudent  resolution,  proposed  in  a  very 
disinterested  spirit,  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Smith  (who 
was  looked  to  as  the  future  bishop  of  the  diocese)  that 
no  bishop  should  be  settled  in  that  state.  In  others  of 
the  southern  states,  very  lax  notions  on  the  subject  of 
episcopacy  were  adopted ;  insomuch  that  it  was 
thought  there  was  no  necessity  to  resort  to  foreign 
bishops  to  obtain  the  succession,  but  we  might  appoint 
and  ordain  them  for  ourselves.  The  church  had  suf- 
fered, too,  in  general  estimation,  by  the  bad  conduct 
of  many  of  her  clergy  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and 
the  states  south  of  them.  Whether  this  was  the  con- 
sequence of  neglect  and  want  of  due  care  in  those 
charged,  in  England,  with  the  power  of  sending  out 
clergymen  to  this  country,  or  deception  in  the  recom- 
mendation of  unsuitable  candidates  to  them ;  or  of  the 
want  of  discipline  in  the  church  here,  leaving  the 
clergy  free  from  any  superintending  control,  and 
making  it  almost  impracticable  to  remove  or  check  a 
vicious  clergyman ;  or  of  both  those  causes ;  the  effects 
produced  severely  injured  her  influence  and  reputa- 
tion: lowering  her  religious  character  in  the  opinion 
of  the  community,  and  inducing  many  of  her  own 
members  to  depart  from  her  fold,  and  unite  themselves 
with  other  churches.  From  the  operation  of  these 
causes,  the  Episcopal  church,  at   the   close  of  the 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  95 

revolution,  was  reduced  to  a  very  low  condition,  and 
almost  in  danger  of  extinction :  most  of  lier  clergy 
having  died,  or  removed  from  the  country,  or  retired 
from  active  duty,  and  none  ordained  to  supply  their 
place;  and  her  congregations,  in  most  places,  broken 
up  and  dispersed.  The  degree  of  this  evil  may  be 
estimated  by  the  fact  formerly  mentioned,  that  in 
Pennsylvania,  Dr  White  was,  for  some  time,  the  only 
clergyman.  And  in  the  other  states,  even  those  in 
which  the  clergy  had  before  been  the  most  numerous, 
very  few  remained.  In  addition  to  all  these  embar- 
rassments, it  was  known  that  differences  of  opinion, 
on  some  important  points,  existed  in  the  church  itself; 
particularly  between  the  clergy  of  the  eastern  states 
and  those  of  the  south ;  which  might  lead  to  disunion. 
And  the  want  of  bishops,  and  the  very  inadequate 
supply  of  clergy,  prevented  any  vigorous  and  syste- 
matic exertion  for  her  improvement. 

Under  such  circumstances  were  commenced  the 
proceedings  for  reviving  and  organizing  anew  our 
Church,  formerly  known  by  the  name  of  "  the  Church 
of  England  in  America,"  but  thereafter  known  as 
"the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States."  Happy  was  it  that,  at  this  time,  she  was 
providentially  supplied  with  a  man  so  v/ell  qualified, 
by  his  character  and  attainments,  to  conduct  her 
safely  through  the  existing  difficulties.  Features  of 
his  character,  calculated  to  secure  confidence  and  re- 
move prejudices,  have  been  before  mentioned.  Others 
may  be  added,  showing  how  well  fitted  he  was  to  sup- 


96  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

ply  her  wants  in  the  present  exigency.  The  mildness 
and  urbanity  of  his  manners  engaged  the  afFectionsof 
those  associated  with  him,  and  enabled  him  to  excite 
and  maintain  a  conciliatory  spirit,  and  a  readiness 
mutually  to  accommodate  to  each  other's  opinions,  on 
subjects  not  deemed  fundamental.  His  influence  in 
guarding  against  disunion,  on  account  of  differences 
in  sentiment,  was  increased  by  the  moderation  of  his 
own  principles  on  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment and  discipline,  which  placed  him  between  the 
clergy  of  the  east  and  south,  and  enabled  him  success- 
fully to  mediate  between  them.  With  all  these  ad- 
vantages he  combined  intellectual  qualifications  and 
attainments,  remarkably  adapted  to  the  station  in 
which  he  was  called  to  act — a  sound  judgment;  habits 
of  calm  and  deep  reflection ;  caution  in  decision  and 
action,  united,  however,  with  steady  adherence  to  the 
principles  deliberately  approved,  yet  with  a  disposi- 
tion to  aid  cordially  in  giving  full  effect  to  measures 
adopted  by  the  general  consent,  though  against  his 
own  opinions;  and  extensive  and  varied  information, 
particularly  (what  was  now  especially  useful)  an  en- 
larged and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
government,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical;  of  the  eccle- 
siastical law  of  England;  and  of  the  principles  and 
usages  of  the  primitive  church.  All  these  were  em- 
ployed, with  unwearied  industry,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
church  in  the  United  States.  It  may  be  stated  here, 
generally,  in  proof  of  his  faithful  attention  to  her  con- 
cerns, from  the  commencement  of  the  measures  for 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  97 

her  new  organization  until  the  time  of  his  decease, 
that  he  attended  every  general  convention,  without 
exception,  held  throughout  that  long  period,  during 
the  v/hole  of  its  deliberations;  and,  in  like  manner, 
every  annual  and  special  convention  held  in  his  own 
diocese  of  P-ennsylvania :  and  that  he  was  named  on 
almost  every  important  committee,  and  zealously  con- 
tributed his  aid  on.  the  subjects  committed  to  its 
charge. 

In  his  "  Memoirs  of  the  Church,"  he  has  left  a  valu- 
able and  interesting  account  of  its  organization,  and  of 
its  subsequent  improvement  and  history.  But  his 
modesty  prevented  his  doing  justice  to  himself,  by 
stating  at  large  his  own  agency.  Nor  can  that  be 
fully  done  now  from  the  materials  discovered.  It  is 
not  intended  to  introduce  a  minute  history  of  those 
transactions.  No  more  will  be  attempted  than  is  ne- 
cessary to  the  design  of  bringing  into  view,  somewhat 
more  prominently,  his  agency  in  them,  and  thereby 
illustrating  his  character  and  principles. 

The  great  object  which  he  contemplated  and  pur- 
sued from  the  outset,  was,  to  procure  a  union  of  all  the 
episcopal  churches  in  the  United  States  into  one  body 
or  church  only ;  and  for  that  purpose  to  induce  the 
churches,  in  as  many  of  the  states  as  possible,  to  con- 
sent  to  such  union  under  a  general  constitution.  The 
wisdom  of  this  course  appears  to  have  been  generally 
perceived  and  conceded. 

But  from  the  commencement  of  the  proceedings  on 
this  subject,  a  difference  of  opinion  was  found  to  exist, 
I* 


98  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tending  to  cause  considerable  delay.  In  some  of  the 
states,  such  principles  had  been  embraced  respecting 
episcopal  power,  that  it  was  thought  improper  to  take 
measures  for  organizing  the  government  of  the  church, 
until  a  bishop  was  obtained,  under  whose  authority 
and  guidance  alone,  the  object  could  be  regularly  ef- 
fected. But  by  others,  and  by  Dr  White  among  them, 
it  was  judged  most  proper  to  collect  and  unite  the 
scattered  members  of  the  church,  that  there  might  be 
a  body  over  which  the  head  might  be  then  placed. 
This  course  was  necessary  also  to  give  weight  to  the 
intended  application  to  the  English  bishops  for  the 
episcopal  succession ;  who,  it  was  thought,  would  pro- 
bably pay  little  regard  to  the  petition  of  unassociated 
individuals.  The  latter  opinion  was  accordingly 
acted  on.* 

The  earliest  measure  leading  to  the  union  and  or- 
ganization, was  taken  by  Dr  White;  who,  after  con- 
sultation with  the  clergy  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
proposed  for  consideration  at  a  meetingf  of  the  vestry 
of  his  own  churches,  on  the  13th  of  November  1783, 
the  appointment  of  committees  from  the  vestries  of  the 
churches  in  the  city,  to  confer  with  the  clergy  thereof 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  95,  358. 

t  Another  transaction  at  the  same  meeting,  and  entered  on  the  mi- 
nutes, furnishes  one  of  the  proofs  of  the  disinterestedness  of  Dr  White. 
He  voluntarily — generously,  is  the  language  of  the  minute — offered  to 
give  up  certain  parts  of  the  income  of  the  church,  to  which  the  rector  had 
been  before  entitled,  to  be  added  to  the  church  funds  :  which  was  accept- 
ed by  the  vestry.  Fifty  pounds,  a  part  of  the  sum  relinquished,  was  to 
be  paid  to  the  assistant  minister. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  99 

on  the  subject  of  forming  a  representative  body  of  the 
episcopal  churches  in  Pennsylvania.  Committees 
being  afterwards  appointed,  as  proposed,  they  and  the 
clergy  met  on  the  29th  of  March  1784,  and  after  con- 
sultation, "were  of  opinion,  that  a  subject  of  such  im- 
portance ought  to  be  taken  up,  if  possible,  with  the 
general  concurrence  of  the  Episcopalians  in  the  United 
States."*  They  therefore  resolved  to  request  a  con- 
ference with  such  members  of  the  Episcopal  congre- 
gations in  the  counties  of  that  state,  as  were  then  in 
the  city.  Another  meeting  was  held  on  the  31st  of 
March ;  and  a  fuller  meeting  of  clergy  and  laity  from 
different  parts  of  the  state  on  the  24th  of  May  1784, 
and  some  following  days,  at  which  Dr  White  was 
chosen  chairman.  The  result  of  their  deliberations 
was  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  reported  by  a  special 
committee,!  "that  it  is  expedient  to  appoint  a  stand- 
ing committee  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  this  state, 
consisting  of  clergy  and  laity :  that  the  said  committee 
be  empowered  to  correspond  and  confer  with  repre- 
sentatives from  the  Episcopal  church  in  the  other 
states,  or  any  of  them ;  and  assist  in  framing  an  eccle- 
siastical government;  that  a  constitution  of  ecclesias- 
tical government,  when  framed,  be  reported  to  the 
several  congregations,"  "  to  be  binding  on  all  the  con- 
gregations consenting  to  it,  as  soon  as  a  majority  of  the 
congregations  shall  have  consented ;"  "  and  that"  "  the 
committee  be  bound  by  the  following  instructions,  or 
fundamental  principles. 

*    Journal  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  3  ;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  74,  75. 
t     Journal  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  6  ;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  72,  73. 


100  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

"First;  That  the  Episcopal  church  in  these  states 
is,  and  ought  to  be,  independent  of  all  foreign  autho- 
rity, ecclesiastical  or  civil. 

"  Second;  That  it  hath,  and  ought  to  have,  in  com- 
mon with  all  other  religious  societies,  full  and  exclu- 
sive powers  to  regulate  the  concerns  of  its  own  com- 
munion. 

"  Third;  That  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  be  main- 
tained, as  now  professed  by  the  Church  of  England; 
and  uniformity  of  worship  continued,  as  near  as  may 
be,  to  the  liturgy  of  the  said  church. 

"Fourth;  That  the  succession  of  the  ministry  be 
agreeable  to  the  usage,  which  requireth  the  three 
orders  of  bishops,  priests  and  deacons;  that  the  rights 
and  powers  of  the  same,  respectively,  be  ascertained; 
and  that  they  be  exercised  according  to  reasonable 
laws,  to  be  duly  made. 

"Fifth;  That  to  make  canons,  or  laws,  there  be  no 
other  authority,  than  that  of  a  representative  body  of 
the  clergy  and  laity  conjointly. 

"  Sixth;  That  no  powers  be  delegated  to  a  general 
ecclesiastical  government,  except  such  as  cannot  con- 
veniently be  exercised  by  the  clergy  and  laity,  in  their 
respective  congregations." 

A  standing  committee  was  appointed,  of  which  Dr 
White  was  chairman. 

A  few  days  afterwards,  a  meeting  of  several  clergy- 
men from  the  states  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  took  place  at  Brunswick;  at  which  were 
the  first  communications  between  clergy  of  diiferent 
states,  on  the  subject  of  the  general  organization  of  the 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  101 

cliurcli.  The  principles  which  had  been  proposed  in 
Pennsylvania  w^ere  made  known  to  them.  And  some 
discussion  occurred,  without  any  definite  result :  some 
of  the  clergy,  in  consequence  of  their  peculiar  situa- 
tion, desiring  that  it  should  not  be  then  urged.  But 
it  was  agreed  to  procure  as  general  a  meeting  as  might 
be,  of  representatives  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the 
different  states,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  6th 
of  October  following.  And  the  business  of  the  meet- 
ing was  confined  to  the  revival  of  a  corporation  for 
the  relief  of  the  widows  and  children  of  clergymen  in 
the  said  three  states,  which  had  existed  before  the  re- 
volution, under  a  charter  from  the  governors  of  those 
states.  This  was  the  expressed  object  of  the  meeting; 
though  it  was  intended  also  to  give  an  opportunity  to 
the  clergy  for  consultation  on  the  other  subject.* 

The  proposed  meeting  was  accordingly  held  in  New 
York,  in  October;  when  members  attended  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  Maryland.  But  not 
being  possessed  of  sufficient  authority  to  establish  de- 
finitively any  principles  of  government,  they  only  re- 
commended the  course  to  be  pursued.     Some  of  the 

*  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  62 — 64.  This  corporation,  by  mutual  consent, 
and  with  a  fair  division  of  the  funds,  was  afterwards  resolved  into  three, 
under  charters  from  the  several  states,  for  the  benefit  of  their  clergy  re- 
spectively. In  that  whicli  was  chartered  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Bishop 
took  great  interest ;  and  was  attentive  to  the  improvement  and  applica- 
tion of  its  funds,  and  often  directed  the  attention  of  his  clergy  to  securing 
its  benefits  for  their  families.  Its  funds  have  accumulated  to  a  very  con. 
siderable  amount. 


102  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

members  were  appointed  only  by  tlieir  own  congre- 
gations, and  not  by  the  churches  of  the  state;  and 
those  who  had  more  regular  appointments  had  no  fur- 
ther authority  than  to  deliberate  and  propose.  Their 
recommendation  was  in  these  words  :*  "  The  body 
now  assembled  recommend  to  the  clergy  and  congre- 
gations of  their  communion,  in  the  states  represented 
as  above,  and  propose  to  the  states  not  represented, 
that  as  soon  as  they  shall  have  organized  or  associated 
themselves  in  the  states  to  which  they  respectively 
belong,  agreeably  to  such  rules  as  they  shall  think 
proper,  they  unite  in  a  general  ecclesiastical  constitu- 
tion, on  the  following  fundamental  principles. 

"First;  That  there  be  a  general  convention  of  the 
Episcopal  church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"Second;  That  the  Episcopal  church  in  each  state 
send  deputies  to  the  convention,  consisting  of  clergy 
and  laity. 

"Third;  That  associated  congregations,  in  tw^o  or 
more  states,  may  send  deputies  jointly. 

"Fourth;  That  the  said  church  shall  maintain  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  as  now  held  by  the  Church 
of  England;  and  shall  adhere  to  the  liturgy  of  the 
•  said  church,  as  far  as  shall  be  consistent  with  the 
American  revolution,  and  the  constitutions  of  the  re- 
spective states. 

"Fifth;  That  in  every  state,  where  there  shall  be 
a  bishop  duly  consecrated  and  settled,  he  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  a  member  of  convention  ex  officio. 

*    Journal  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  8,  9. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE,  103 

''Sixth;  That  the  clergy  and  laity  assembled  in 
convention  shall  deliberate  in  one  body,  but  shall  vote 
separately;  and  the  concurrence  of  both  shall  be  ne- 
cessary to  give  validity  to  every  measure. 

"  Seventh ;  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  convention 
shall  be  at  Philadelphia,  the  Tuesday  before  the  feast 
of  St  Michael  next,  to  which  it  is  hoped,  and  earnestly 
desired,  that  the  Episcopal  churches  in  the  several 
states,  will  send  their  clerical  and  lay  deputies,  duly 
instructed  and  authorized  to  proceed  on  the  necessary 
business,  hereby  proposed  for  their  deliberation." 

The  clergyman  who  appeared  from  Connecticut 
did  not  unite  in  this  recommendation,  being  only  em- 
powered to  announce  that  the  clergy  of  Connecticut 
had  taken  measures  for  the  obtaining  of  an  episcopate ; 
and  until  that  design  should  be  accomplished,  they 
could  do  nothing;  but  as  soon  as  they  should  have 
succeeded,  they  would  come  forward,  with  their  bishop, 
to  do  what  the  general  interests  of  the  Church  might 
require.  But  otherwise,  it  contained  the  sense  of  the 
body  assembled.  And  the  gaining  of  so  considerable 
an  assent  to  it  was  thought  of  muph  moment  at  the 
time.*- 

After  this  meeting  in  New  York,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  the  adoption  of  the  principles  contained  in 
the  fourth  article  of  their  recommendation,  an  event 
happened  in  Massachusetts,  which  deprived  the  Epis- 
copalians of  one  of  their  principal  churches  in  Boston. 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  64—63. 


104  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

It  was  known  before  the  revolution  by  the  name  of 
the  King's  Chapel,  and  afterwards  by  that  of  the 
Chapel  Church.  The  congregation  then  occupying 
it  (in  consequence  of  circumstances  appearing  in  the 
correspondence  to  be  referred  to)  was  Unitarian,  in 
principle.  Before  the  meeting  in  New  York,  they 
had  declared  a  belief  that  the  Episcopalians  south  of 
Connecticut,  agreed  with  them  in  opinion,  and  would 
alter  the  liturgy  so  as  that  they  might  be  in  commu- 
nion with  the  Episcopal  church.  But  that  fourth 
article  being  totally  adverse  to  their  views,  they  formed 
a  liturgy  for  themselves,  by  the  authority  of  the  con- 
gregation only.  The  incident  produced  a  correspon- 
dence between  Dr  White  and  one  of  the  members  of 
that  congregation,  with  the  concurrence  and  aid,  it  was 
believed,  of  a  gentleman  then  their  lay  reader,  and 
afterwards  their  minister.  The  correspondence,  with 
an  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr  (afterwards 
Bishop)  Parker,  through  whose  hands  Dr  White's 
letters  passed,  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix.-*  An 
idea  has  been  entertained  by  some,  that  at  the  time  of 
the  organization  of  our  Church,  an  apprehension  ex- 
isted that  there  was,  among  her  members,  an  inclina- 
tion to  Unitarian  opinions,  and  that  there  w^as  danger 
of  her  being  infected  by  them.  Assertions  of  this 
kind  were  made  in  England. f  I  have  not  met,  either 
in  the  published  works  of  Bishop  White  or  among 
his  manuscripts,  the  slightest  evidence  of  any  cause 

*    No.  2.  t    Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  135,  381,  384. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  105 

for  such  an  apprehension,  except  what  might  have 
been  supposed  to  be  furnished  by  this  transaction.* 
The  result  of  which  was,  that  this  expensive  church, 
built  by  Episcopalians,  and  appropriated  to  episcopal 
worship,  came  into  possession  (still  retained)  of  a  de- 
nomination maintaining  principles  fundamentally  at 
variance  with  theirs;  and  which  the  original  founders 
of  the  charch  would  not  have  supported.  The  allow- 
ance of  so  great  a  perversion  of  property  from  the 
sacred  object  for  which  it  was  originally  bestowed,  to 
another  so  much  opposed  to  that  object,  has  a  tenden- 
cy to  discourage  the  permanent  devotion  of  private 
wealth  to  the  benefit  of  religious  institutions. 

In  compliance  with  the  recommendation  from  the 
assembly  in  New  York,  in  October  1784,  the  clergy 
and  deputies  from  the  congregations  in  Pennsylvania 
assembled  in  their  first  convention  in  May  1785,  of 
which  Dr  White  was  unanimously  chosen  president. 
Articles  of  association  were  here  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  he  was  chairman,  and  adopted  and 
signed  by  the  convention :  containing  the  principles 
that  the  said  clergy  and  congregations  should  be  called 
and  know^n  by  the  name  of  "  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania:"  that  there 
should  be  an  annual  convention,  consisting  of  all  the 
clergy,  and  of  a  lay  deputy  or  deputies  from  each 
congregation :  that  each  congregation  should  have  one 

*  A  motion  made  in  the  general  convention  of  1785,  by  Mr  Page  of 
Virginia,  wliose  design  was  misunderstood,  is  explained  by  Dr  White  in 
the  Memoirs  (Isted),  pp.  104,  105. 

K 


106  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

vote :  that  the  clergy  and  lay  deputies  should  delibe- 
rate in  one  body,  but  vote  as  two  distinct  orders;  and 
that  the  concurrence  of  both  orders  should  be  necessary 
to  give  validity  to  every  measure.  Clerical  and  lay 
deputies  were  also  appointed  to  attend  the  general 
convention  recommeiid.ed  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia 
in  the  succeeding  September ;  of  whom  Dr  White  was 
one.* 

The  proposed  general  convention  met  in  Philadel- 
phia on  the  27th  of  September  1785,  and  consisted  of 
representatives  from  seven  of  the  states;  being  those 
from  New  York  to  Virginia,  both  inclusive,  with  the 
addition  of  South  Carolina.  Dr  White  was  unani- 
mously chosen  president.  In  consequence  of  their 
consultations,  the  Church  became  organized  and 
united  in  those  states,  under  a  general  constitution ; 
which,  though  acted  under,  being  the  only  one  in 
existence,  was  not  finally  ratified  until  the  convention 
of  1789,  and  afterwards  received  several  important 
improvements.  The  proceedings  of  the  convention 
related  to  other  interesting  subjects;  but  as  they  were 
not  fully  matured,  and  brought  to  their  permanent 
state,  until  reviewed  and  considered  by  several  suc- 
cessive conventions,  it  is  proposed,  for  greater  clear- 
ness, to  state  the  facts  relating  to  the  course  pursued 
on  the  most  interesting  points,  until  the  leading  prin- 
ciples for  governing  the  church  and  regulating  its 
doctrines  and   worship   became   settled.     The   facts 

*     Journal  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  11 — 13. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  107 

will  be  arranged  under  the  five  heads  of — the  Episco- 
pal Succession;  the  Constitution  of  Government ;  the 
Liturgy;  the  Articles  of  Religion;  and  the  Canons. 
They  have.already  been  made  well  known  by  "The 
Memoirs  of  the  Church,""  and  but  little  interesting 
information — some,  however — can  be  added  to  that 
therein  contained.  They  will  therefore  be  stated  with 
brevity,  and  in  a  way  adapted  to  the  design  of  exhi- 
biting Dr  White's  own  views,  and  of  introducing  the 
few  additional  circumstances  in  a  clear  connection. 

I.  Of  the  Episcopal   Succession.     Though  the 
Church  was  yet  destitute  of  it,  her  existence  is  not  to 
be  considered  as  commencing  from  the  time  of  her  ob- 
taining it.     She  continued  the  same  body  previously 
known  as  the  Church  of  England  in  America;  though, 
in  consequence  of  the  dissolution  of  her  union  with 
the  parent  church  by  the  revolution,  a  new  organiza- 
tion  of  her   government   became   necessary.      This 
principle  was,  from  the  first,  maintained  by  Dr  White, 
and  led  to  very  important  inferences,  as  will  hereafter 
appear.     And  it  was  some  years  afterwards  approved 
by  a  resolution  of  the  general  convention  in  1S14,  in 
the  following  words  :  "  That  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  is  the  same 
body  heretofore  known  in  these  states  by  the  name  of 
the  Church  of  England  ;  the  change  of  name,  although 
not  of  religious  principle  in  doctrine,  or  in  worship,  or 
in  discipline,  being  induced  by  a  characteristic  of  the 
Church  of  England,  supposing  the  independence  of 


108  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Christian  churches,  under  the  different  sovereignties 
to  which  respectively  their  allegiance  in  civil  concerns 
belongs.  But  that  vi^hen  the  severance  alluded  to 
took  place,  and  ever  since,  this  church  conceives  of 
herself  as  professing  and  acting  on  the  principles  of 
the  Church  of  England,  is  evident  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  our  conventions,  and  from  their  subsequent 
proceedings,  as  recorded  on  the  journals;  to  vi^hich, 
accordingly,  this  convention  refer  for  satisfaction  in  the 
premises.  But  it  would  be  contrary  to  fact,  were  any 
one  to  infer,  that  the  discipline  exercised  in  this 
Church,  or  that  any  proceedings  therein,  are  at  all 
dependent  on  the  will  of  the  civil  or  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority  of  any  foreign  country."*  This  decla- 
ration was  agreed  to  by  the  house  of  bishops  on  the 
proposal  of  Dr  White,  and  was  concurred  in  by  the 
house  of  clerical  and  lay  deputies. 

It  was  a  gratifying,  as  well  as  unexpected  circum- 
stance, that  there  was,  on  the  subject  of  obtaining  the 
succession,  a  unanimous  agreement  of  opinion  in  the 
convention ;  though  a  few  years  before  a  clamour  was 
made  on  the  proposal  of  an  American  episcopacy,  and 
objections  to  it  prevailed  among  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  members  of  the  Episcopal  church  itself, 
and  the  lay  members  of  the  present  convention  were 
principally  gentlemen  who  had  been  active  in  the  late 
revolution.  It  was  determined,  without  any  opposi- 
tion, that  an  application  should  be  made  to  the  bishops 

*    Journal  (Bioren's)  pp.  310,  311.     And  see  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  297. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  109 

of  the  Church  of  England,  to  consecrate  suitable  per- 
sons chosen  and  recommended  by  the  state  conven- 
tions for  their  bishops.  The  resolves  containing  the 
plan,  and  the  address  to  the  British  bishops  v^ere  pre- 
pared by  Dr  White,  and  adopted  with  only  a  few  ver- 
bal alterations.*  And  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
correspond  with  those  bishops,  of  which  he  was  chair- 
man. 

This  committee,  after  the  rising  of  the  convention, 
transmitted  the  address  to  Mr  Adams,  the  American 
minister  in  London;  with  a  request  that  it  might  be 
delivered  by  him  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
He  readily  undertook  the  service,  and  delivered  it  in 
person  to  the  archbishop;  ma.king,  during  the  inter- 
view, such  remarks,  and  giving  such  information  on 
the  principles  of  our  government,  and  on  the  senti- 
ments of  the  people  of  the  United  States  generally, 
relative  to  the  equal  religious  rights  of  all  men,  as 
tended  to  favoMr  the  success-  of  the  object  of  the  con- 
vention; and  particularly  to  satisfy  the  archbishop 
that  the  requested  interposition  of  the  English  prelates 
would  not  give  uneasiness  and  dissatisfaction  in  Ame- 
rica. Throug-h  the  same  orentleman  the  answer  of 
the  archbishops  was  transmitted  to  the  committee. f 
The  aid  thus  given  by  Mr  Adams,  was  liberal  and 
manly.     He  was  himself  a  member  of  a  Congrega- 

*  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  101.  For  the  resolutions  and  addrcs?,  see 
Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  11 — 15;  or  Memoirs,  pp.  348 — 354. 

f  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  15,  399 — 402.  And  for  the  said  answer,  sec 
Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  19,  20;  or  Memoirs,  pp.  354—356. 

K* 


110  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tional  church  in  Massachusetts,  in  which  state  the 
opposition  to  the  introduction  of  episcopacy  was 
thought  to  be  more  decided  than  elsewhere ;  the  aver- 
sion to  it  being  strengthened  by  rehgious,  in  addition 
to  pohtical  prejudices:  and  he  might,  not  unreason- 
ably, apprehend  injury  or  inconvenience  to  himself, 
in  consequence  of  the  part  he  now  took.  His  own 
ideas  on  this  point  were  expressed  many  years  after- 
wards, in  a  letter  to  Bishop  White,  the  principal 
object  of  which  was  to  introduce  a  friend.  And 
his  language  furnishes  proof  of  the  serious  nature  of 
the  difficulty  under  which  the  Episcopal  church  at 
first  laboured,  arising  from  the  existing  prejudices 
against  that  form  of  church  government.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  extract  from  the  letter  referred  to,  which  is 
dated  October  29,  1814.  "There  is  no  part  of  my 
life  on  which  I  look  back  and  reflect  with  more  satis- 
faction, than  the  part  I  took,  bold,  daring  and  hazard- 
ous as  it  was  to  myself  and  mine,  in  the  introduction 
of  episcopacy  into  America."  In  an  answer  from  Dr 
White  (dated  the  12th  of  February  1820)  to  another 
letter  of  Mr  Adams,  for  a  similar  purpose,  this  lan- 
guage occurs :  "I  have  lately  sent  to  the  press  a 
work  entitled,  '  Memoirs  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.'  My  motive  is  the  perpetuating  of  the 
remembrance  of  some  facts  which  have  had  an  influ- 
ence on  measures,  and  serve  to  explain  them.  One  of 
the  facts  is,  the  benevolent  agency  of  Mr  Adams,  in 
aid  of  our  endeavours  for  the  obtaining  of  the  episco- 
pal succession.     For  this  reason,  on  the  completion  of 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  Ill 

the  volume,  which  will  be  thin  8vo,  I  shall  consider 
it  a  duty  to  request  his  acceptance  of  a  copy." 

Another  convention  assembled  in  Philadelphia, 
according  to  appointment,  in  June  1786.  Several 
difficulties  existed  which  caused  apprehensions  of  dis- 
union ;  two  of  which  related  to  the  episcopacy :  first,  a 
dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  some  with  the  Scottish 
episcopacy,  from  which  Dr  Seabury,  of  Connecticut, 
had  received  consecration;  and  secondly,  the  hesita- 
tion expressed  in  the  answer  of  the  British  bishops  to 
the  address  sent  to  them  by  the  last  convention. 

The  question  relative  to  the  Scottish  episcopacy 
excited  some  warmth,  and  was  not  readily  disposed  of. 
Dr  White  himself  was  fully  satisfied  of  the  validity  of 
the  orders  conferred  upon  Dr  Seabury  by  the  bishops 
of  Scotland,  and  advocated  a  union  with  him  at  a 
proper  period.  But  a  few  of  the  clergy  were  opposed 
to  any  recognition  of  that  episcopacy;  and  several 
motions  were  made  with  a  view  to  obtain  the  decision 
of  this  convention  against  it.  The  first  was  :  "  that 
the  clergy  present  produce  their  letters  of  orders,  or 
declare  by  whom  they  were  ordained."  One  of  the 
clergy  present,  Mr  Pilmore,  had  been  ordained  by 
Bishop  Seabury;  and  another  (Mr  William  Smith, 
the  younger  of  that  name)  by  one  of  the  Scotch 
bishops.  This  motion  was  negatived.  Subsequently 
another  motion  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Mr  Provoost, 
seconded  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Smith,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, "  that  this  convention  will  resolve  to  do  no  act 
that  shall  imply  the  validity  of  ordinations  made  by 


112  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Dr  Seabury."  The  discussion  on  it  was  stopped  by 
the  previous  question;  and  the  motion  was  negatived 
by  the  votes  of  four  states  against  three.  But  as  it 
had  been  asserted,  and  urged  in  argument,  that  cler- 
gymen ordained  under  the  Scottish  succession,  though 
settled  in  churches  of  the  states  represented  in  this 
convention,  were  understood  to  be  under  canonical 
subjection  to  the  bishops  w^ho  ordained  them,  Dr 
White,  in  order  to  obviate  any  difficulty  or  opposition 
arising  from  this  apprehension,  for  which  he  did  not 
himself  conceive  there  was  any  ground,  proposed  a 
resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  "  that  it 
be  recommended  to  this  church  in  the  states  here  re- 
presented, not  to  receive  to  the  pastoral  charge,  within 
their  respective  limits,  clergymen  professing  canonical 
subjection  to  any  bishop,  in  any  state  or  country,  other 
than  those  bishops  who  may  be  duly  settled  in  the  states 
represented  in  this  convention."  This  temperate 
measure,  while  it  guarded  against  the  evil,  if  it  should 
exist,  tended  to  prevent  any  dispute  on  the  subject 
with  the  eastern  clergy;  and  also  drew  off  some  lay 
gentlemen  from  their  intended  opposition  to  such 
orders.  Another  prudent  precaution  was  taken  by 
unanimously  resolving,  on  motion  of  the  Rev.  Robert 
Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  "  that  it  be  recommended 
to  the  conventions  of  the  Church  represented  in  this 
general  convention,  not  to  admit  any  person  as  a 
minister  within  their  respective  limits,  who  shall  re- 
ceive ordination  from  any  bishop  residing  in  America 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  113 

during  the  application  now  pending  to  the  English 
bishops  for  episcopal  consecration."* 

The  hesitation  of  the  English  prelates  to  give  a  de- 
cided answer  to  the  address  sent  to  them — the  other 
cause  of  apprehension — does  not  appear  to  have  been 
occasioned  by  any  reluctance,  on  their  part,  to  accede 
to  the  request  of  the  convention.  But  they  had  re- 
ceived no  information  from  it  of  the  alterations  adopted, 
in  the  articles,  liturgy,  or  government;  and  had  heard, 
through  private  channels,  that  these  were  essential 
deviations  from  the  Church  of  England,  either  in 
doctrine  or  discipline. f  Under  these  circumstances, 
they  concluded  their  letter  to  the  committee  in  this 
manner:  ''While  we  are  anxious  to  give  every  proof, 
not  only  of  our  brotherly  affection,  but  of  our  facility 
in  forwarding  your  wishes,  we  cannot  but  be  extremely 
cautious,  lest  we  should  be  the  instruments  of  estab- 
lishing an  ecclesiastical  system  which  will  be  called 
a  branch  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  afterwards 
may  possibly  appear  to  have  departed  from  it  essen- 
tially, either  in  doctrine  or  in  discipline."  This  first 
letter  was  the  only  one  received  previous  to  the  meet- 
ing of  this  convention.  The  liturgy,  as  altered,  and 
also  the  constitution  adopted,  had  been  sent,  though 
they  had  not  reached  England  at  the  date  of  the 
letter.     And  all  that  the  convention  could  do  was  to 

*  Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  19,  21,  22.  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  124, 
125. 

t  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  16,  115  ;  in  the  latter  page  the  cause  of  the 
delay  of  information  is  stated. 


114  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

present  a  second  address,*  expressing  their  acknow- 
ledgements for  the  friendly  and  affectionate  letter 
received,  assuring  their  lordships  that  the  convention 
neither  had  departed,  nor  proposed  to  depart  from  the 
doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  had  retained 
the  same  discipline  and  forms  of  worship,  as  far  as 
was  consistent  with  our  civil  institutions;  and  had 
made  no  alterations  or  omissions  in  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,  but  such  as  that  consideration  prescribed, 
and  such  as  were  calculated  to  remove  objections, 
which,  it  appeared  more  conducive  to  union  and  gene- 
ral content  to  obviate,  than  to  dispute;  and  repeating 
their  request  for  the  Episcopal  succession. 

Some  time  after  the  adjournment  of  the  convention, 
the  second  letter  of  the  English  bishops,t  signed  by 
the  two  archbishops,  to  whom  the  business  was  com- 
mitted, was  received  by  the  committee  of  correspon- 
dence; acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  liturgy  and 
constitution;  stating  that  a  bill  had  been  prepared, 
and  would  soon  be  presented  to  parliament,  conveying 
the  powers  necessary  for  the  proposed  consecration, 
and  prescribing  the  requisite  proofs  of  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  persons  elected.  But  they  added,  that 
after  the  dispositions  thus  shown  on  their  part,  they 
thought  it  incumbent  on  the  committee  to  use  their 
utmost  exertions  for  the  removal  of  any  stumbling- 
block  of  ofljence,  which  might  possibly  prove  an  ob- 

*     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  27,  28  ;  Memoirs  (Isted.),  pp.  18, 125,  360 
—362. 

t     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  32^37;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  131,  363—372. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  115 

stacle  to  their  success ;  and  therefore  earnestly  exhorted 
them  to  restore  to  its  integrity  tlie  Apostles'  creed,  in 
which  one  article  (the  descent  into  hell)  was  omitted; 
and  hoped  that  they  would  give  the  two  other  creeds 
a  place  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  even  though 
the  use  of  them  should  be  left  discretional;  and  ex- 
pressed their  persuasion  that  some  alteration  M^ould  be 
thought  necessary  by  the  convention,  in  the  article  of 
the  constitution  relative  to  the  amenability  of  the  clergy 
to  the  convention,  "which  appeared  to  them  to  be  a 
degradation  of  the  clerical,  and  still  more  of  the  epis- 
copal character."  A  third  letter*  was  afterwards 
received,  signed  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
alone,  communicating  a  copy  of  the  act  of  parliament! 
wdiich  had  been  passed;  and  stating  the  opinion  held 
in  England,  that  no  more  than  three  bishops  should 
be  there  consecrated  for  the  United  States,  who  might 
consecrate  others  at  their  return,  if  more  were  found 
necessary. 

On  the  receipt  of  these  communications,  the  com- 

*     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  37,  38;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  372—375. 

f  It  is  observable  that  the  act  contains  a  provision  that  no  bishops 
consecrated  under  it,  nor  any  bishop,  priest  or  deacon  consecrated  or 
ordained  by  such  bishops,  or  their  successors,  should  be  enabled  there- 
by "to  exercise  his  or  their  respective  office  or  offices  within  his  majes- 
ty's dominions."  Probably  the  intention  was  only  to  prevent  their  hold- 
ing any  benefice  or  cure,  and  not  their  occasionally  officiating  in  the 
churches.  It  has,  however,  been  so  rigidly  construed,  in  England,  as  to 
prevent  American  bishops  and  presbyters,  who  have  visited  that  country, 
from  receiving  invitations  to  preach  in  their  pulpits.  But  this  has  not 
been  the  case  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  or  the  British  colonies  ;  in  which 
instances  of  such  invitations  have  occurred. 


116  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

mittee  of  correspondence,  agreeably  to  a  power  given 
to  them  by  the  convention  in  June,  called  a  meeting 
of  it,  to  be  held  at  Wilmington,  in  Delaw^are,  in  Octo- 
ber follow^ing.  Previous  to  which,  a  special  state  con- 
vention assembled  in  Pennsylvania  on  the  14th  of 
September,*  by  which  Dr  White  was  unanimously 
elected  bishop.  Three  only  of  the  clergy  of  that  state, 
besides  himself,  were  present.  The  other  two  clergy- 
men belonging  to  it  afterwards  expressed  their  con- 
currence. 

The  general  convention  met  accordingly,  at  Wil- 
mington, in  October.  They  declared  their  sincere 
disposition  to  give  every  satisfaction  to  the  English 
prelates,  consistent  with  the  union  and  general  con- 
tent of  the  church  represented  by  them;  and  their 
steadfast  resolution  to  maintain  the  same  essential 
articles  of  faith  and  discipline  with  the  Church  of 
England.  They  restored  the  article,  "he  descended 
into  hell,"  in  the  Apostles'  creed,  and  inserted  the 
Nicene  creed  in  the  liturgy :  but  would  not  admit  the 
Athanasian.f  All  these  determinations  were  conform- 
able to  the  sentiments  of  Dr  White.  The  ground  of 
objection  to  the  article  of  the  constitution  relative  to 
the  trial  of  the  bishops,  and  other  clergy,  had  been 
before  removed.  The  requisite  testimonials  in  favour 
of  Dr  White,  elected  bishop  in  Pennsylvania,  and  of 
the  Rev.  Mr  Provoost,  v/ho  had  been  elected  in  New 


*    Journal  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  17,  18. 
t     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  39 — 43. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  117 

York,  were  also  signed.  The  duties  at  this  conven- 
tion were  laborious.  The  committee  on  the  commu- 
nications from  England,  of  which  Dr  "White  w^as  a 
member,  sat  up  all  night  to  digest  the  measures  re- 
commended in  their  report,  and  adopted  by  the  con- 
vention. 

On  the  2d  of  November,  Dr  White  embarked  in  the 
packet  of  that  month  for  England,  in  company  with 
Mr  Provoost,  and  arrived  at  Falmouth  on  the  20th. 
When  they  reached  London,  they  were  introduced  to 
the  archbishop  by  Mr  Adams,  "who,  in  this  particular, 
and  in  every  instance  in  which  his  personal  attentions 
could  be  either  of  use  or  an  evidence  of  his  respect  and 
kindness,  continued  to  manifest  his  concern  for  the 
interests  of  a  church  of  which  he  was  not  a  member."* 
Some  delay  of  their  consecration  was  occasioned  by 
the  desire  of  the  archbishop  to  lay  before  the  bishops, 
then  generally  absent  from  the  capital  in  their  several 
dioceses,  and  not  expected  to  return  until  the  meeting 
of  parliament,  about  the  middle  of  January,  the  ground 
of  his  proceedings.  But  on  the  4th  of  February  1787, 
their  consecration  took  place  in  Lambeth  Chapel. 
And  tow^ard  the  end  of  the  month,  they  sailed  from 
Falmouth  for  New  York,  where  they  arrived  on  the 
7th  of  April,  and  soon  afterwards  began  the  exercise 
of  the  Episcopal  office,  in  their  respective  dioceses. 
The  incidents  attending  their  voyage  and  abode  in 
England  were  communicated  by  Dr  White  in  letters 

*     Memoirs  (1st  eel),  p.  20 


118  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

to  the  committee  of  the  Church  in  Pennsylvania; 
which  have  been  published  in  the  Memoirs  of  the 
Church,  and  are  the  only  documents  on  the  subject,* 
He  was  received  in  his  diocese  with  a  joyful  and  aifec- 
tionate  welcome. 

The  Church  had  now  two  bishops,  consecrated  in 
England:  and  in  the  next  convention,  held  in  1789,  a 
union  was  effected  with  Bishop  Seabury  and  the 
church  in  Connecticut.  Two  sessions  were  held  in 
that  year.  At  the  first,  a  resolution  was  unanimously 
passed  in  favour  of  the  validity  of  Bishop  Seabury's 
consecration.!  There  were  consequently  three  bishops, 
whose  Episcopal  authority  was  recognized;  the  num- 
ber canonically  requisite  for  a  consecration.  And  an 
application  was  made  to  them,  by  the  clergy  of  Mas- 
sachusetts and  New  Hampshire,  for  the  consecration 
of  the  Rev.  Edward  Bass,  elected  their  bishop;  which 
was  laid  before  the  convention  by  Bishop  White,  the 
president.  The  convention  unanimously  requested 
the  bishops  (their  president^  however,  not  voting),  to 
comply  with  the  prayer  of  it;  but  that,  before  compli- 
ance, it  should  be  proposed  to  the  churches  in  New 
England  to  meet  the  churches  represented  in  the  con- 
vention, in  an  adjourned  convention,  to  settle  articles 
of  union  and  discipline  among  all  the  churches,  pre- 
vious to  such  consecration.  J  Bishop  White  did  not 
conceive  himself  bouad,  or  indeed  at  liberty,  to  com- 


*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  138—162. 

t     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  51,  53,  54.  |     Ibid.,  p.  54. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  119 

ply  with  this  request  of  the  convention.  He  had  been, 
indeed,  from  the  beginning,  persuaded  of  the  vahdity 
of  Bishop  Seabury's  consecration,  and  desirous  of 
bringing  him  and  the  Church  in  Connecticut,  into 
union  with  the  other  churches.  But  he  thought  that 
his  faith  had  been  impUedly  pledged  to  the  English 
prelates,  in  consequence  of  the  measures  taken  by  a 
preceding  convention  for  obtaining  the  Episcopal  suc- 
cession, that  three  bishops  should  be  consecrated  in 
England  before  any  consecration  in  America,  so  that 
the  succession  should  be  continued  in  the  English 
line :  and  he  believed  that  no  determination  of  the  con- 
vention would  warrant  a  breach  of  the  faith  so  pledged. 
In  that  opinion  Bishop  Provoost  agreed  with  him: 
and  in  a  letter  to  him  (dated  September  7th,  1789), 
used  this  decided  language:  "As  to  what  you  style  an 
implied  engagement  to  the  English  bishops,  I  look 
upon  it,  in  regard  to  myself,  as  a  positive  one.  I  en- 
tered into  it  ex  animo,  upon  principle,  and  do  not  wish 
to  ask  or  to  accept  a  releasement  from  it."  That 
gentleman  was  also  opposed  to  complying  with  the 
request  for  another  reason — that  he  was  unwilling  to 
recognize  the  validity  of  the  Scotch  succession.  He 
was  not,  in  this  matter^  supported  by  his  own  clergy 
or  convention.* 

Dr  White  was,  however,  relieved,  for  the  present, 
from  the  pain  of  standing  opposed  to  the  wishes  of  the 
convention,  by  the  delay  which  was  necessary  in  con- 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  166. 


120  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

sequence  of  the  intended  meeting  with  the  clergy  of 
the  eastern  states,  and  of  a  proposed  address  of  the 
convention  to  the  EngUsh  prelates,  to  obtain  their  ap- 
probation of  the  desired  consecration.*  And  the 
difficulty  was  removed  before  any  action  became  ne- 
cessary, by  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Madison,  of 
Virginia,  in  England. f  Compliance  with  a  similar 
application  from  Virginia,  in  1787,  for  the  consecra- 
tion of  Dr  Griffith,  had  been  declined  on  the  same 
principle.  $ 

The  convention  assembled  again,  at  an  adjourned 
meeting,  in  September  1789,  in  Philadelphia;  at  which 
Bishop  Seabury,  with  deputies  from  the  Church  in 
Connecticut,  and  also  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  deputy 
from  the  churches  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. A  conference  took  place  between  them  and  a 
committee  of  the  convention ;  and  the  result  was  that 
they  signed  the  constitution,  with  some  modifications 
agreed  upon:  and  the  union  was  completed. 

In  September  1790,  Dr  Madison,  of  Virginia,  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  that  diocese  by  the  English 
prelates ;  and  the  American  Church  thereby  obtained 
the  requisite  number  of  bishops  to  continue  canoni- 
cally  the  Episcopal  succession  in  the  English  line. 

The  first  consecration  which  took  place  in  the  United 
States  was  that  of  Dr  Claggett,  as  bishop  of  Mary- 

*  Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  53,  54,  103—108;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp. 
412—416. 

t    Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp-  169,  170.  t    Ibid.,  pp.  171,  172,  n. 


V^  ^^    \-xi     ^Vv. 


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^ 


^  V     vo    -    ^     ^     *;S)    ft) 


^ 


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Cv^    ^     ^ 


'     1 


I   I 


I  I 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  121 

land,  at  the  general  convention  in  1792,  in  New  York. 
It  was  performed  by  Bishop  Provoost,  assisted  by  the 
other  two  bishops  consecrated  in  England,  and  by 
Bishop  Seabury.  There  was  an  apprehension,  on  the 
part  of  the  last  named  bishop  (which  he  communi-' 
cated  to  Dr  White),  that  it  was  intended  to  exclude 
him  from  taking  any  part  in  the  expected  consecra- 
tion. But  it  was  soon  found  that  the  apprehension 
was  without  sufficient  ground,  no  such  design  having 
been  thought  of;  of  which,  indeed,  Dr  White  from 
the  first  expressed  his  conviction  to  Dr  Seabury.  All 
the  bishops  were  desirous  that  the  three  bishops  who 
received  their  consecration  from  the  Church  of  Eng^ 
land  should  be  present  and  officiate  on  the  occasion. 
But  there  was  no  objection  to  Bishop  Seabury 's  uniting 
with  them  in  the  act,  as  this  could  not  weaken  the 
English  line  of  succession:  Bishop  Provoost,  for  the 
sake  of  peace,  w^aiving  bis  objection  to  having  any 
thing  to  do  with  the  Scotch  succession,  which  he 
thought  irregular.^  All  the  subsequent  consecra- 
tions, twenty-six  in  number,  until  that  of  Bishop 
M'Coskry,  of  Michigan,  in  July  1836,  were  performed 
by  Bishop  White. 

II.  Of  the  Constitution  of  Government.  The 
constitution  adopted  by  the  convention  of  1785,  com- 
prehended the  principles — that  there  should  be  trien- 
nially  a  general   convention  of  the   Church   in  the 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  166,  201,  202. 


122  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

United  States,  composed  of  representatives  of  the 
clergy  and  laity  in  each  state,  not  exceeding  four  of 
each  order;  and  on  all  questions,  each  state  should 
have  one  vote,  and  a  majority  of  suffrages  be  conclu- 
sive; that  in  every  state  there  should  be  a  convention, 
consisting  of  the  clergy  and  lay  deputies  of  the  con- 
gregations— that  in  every  state  where  there  should  be 
a  bishop  duly  consecrated  and  settled,  and  who  should 
have  acceded  to  this  general  constitution,  he  should  be 
considered  as  a  member  of  the  convention  ex  officio — 
that  bishops  should  be  chosen  according  to  rules  fixed 
by  the  respective  conventions ;  and  should  confine  the 
exercise  of  their  office  to   their  proper  jurisdiction, 
unless  requested  to  ordain  or  confirm  by  a  Church 
destitute  of  a  bishop ;  that  every  clergyman,  of  either 
order,  should  be  amenable  to  the  authority  of  the  con- 
vention of  the  state  to  which  he  belongs,  so  far  as 
relates  to  suspension  or  removal  from  office ;  and  the 
convention  in  each  state  should  institute  rules  for  their 
conduct,  and  an  equitable  mode  of  trial;  and  that  no 
person  should  be  ordained,  or  be  permitted  to  officiate 
in  this  Church,  until  he  subscribed  a  declaration  of  his 
belief  in  the  Scriptures,  as  the  word  of  God,  and  con- 
taining all  things  necessary  for  salvation,  and  of  his 
engaging  to  conform  to  the  doctrine,  discipline  and 
worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.     Pro- 
vision was   also   made  for   the   future  admission  of 
churches  not  then  represented,  and  for  the  use  of  the 
liturgy,  as  altered  by  the  convention.     And  this  con- 
stitution, when  ratified  by  the  Church  in  the  different 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  123 

states,  was  declared  fundamental,  and  unalterable  by 
the  convention  of  any  state.* 

The  constitution  was  drafted  by  Dr  White,  as  mem- 
ber of  a  subcommittee  of  a  larger  committee  appointed 
for  that  purpose.!  In  most  of  the  main  articles,  it 
was  nearly  conformable  to  his  own  opinions ;  but  in 
some  important  particulars  was  contrary  to  his  judg- 
ment. When  he  found  that  he  could  not  procure  the 
adoption  of  those  preferred  by  him,  he  relinquished 
opposition ;  being  unwilling  to  hazard,  on  account  of 
them,  the  attainment  of  the  paramount  object  of  a 
union  and  organization  of  the  whole  Church;  and 
trusting  that  favourable  opportunities  would  after- 
wards occur  for  improvement.  And  in  this  he  was 
not  disappointed.  Various  alterations  were,  from  time 
to  time,  introduced,  which  will  be  traced  in  connec- 
tion with  each  of  the  leading  principles,  on  which 
there  existed  a  diversity  of  opinion.  They  brought 
the  constitution  to  a  form  more  nearly  agreeable  to  his 
sentiments  than  that  in  which  it  was  at  first  adopted. 

1.  The  admission  of  the  laity  to  a  share  in  the  go- 
vernment of  the  Church,  was  advocated  by  him  in  the 
pamphlet  of  1782;  and  at  the  present  period  he  was 
considered  as  the  proposer  of  the  measure.  It  had 
obtained  the  approbation  of  the  clergy  of  Maryland,  in 
1783;!  of  the  convention  of  Pennsylvania,  in  May 
1784 ;§.  of  the  clergy  met  in  Boston,  in  September 


*    Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  8 — 10.         f     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  93. 
t    Ibid.,  pp.  87,  89.  §    Ibid.,  p.  73. 


124  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

1784;*  and  of  the  meeting,  before  mentioned,  at  New 
York,  in  October  1784.  But  in  Connecticut  it  was 
objected  to.f  Dr  White  maintained  its  lawfulness 
and  propriety,  because  agreeable  to  Scripture  and 
primitive  usage;  and  its  great  expediency,  and  even 
necessity,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  American 
Church.  He  remarked  also  that  it  was  conformable, 
in  substance,  though  not  in  form,  to  the  principles  of 
the  Church  of  England :  according  to  which,  the  legis- 
lative acts  of  the  convocation  are  not  binding  on  the 
laity  (they  not  being  represented  in  it),  until  confirmed 
by  parliament :  and  we  could  not  have  a  substitute  for 
this  parliamentary  sanction  in  any  other  way  than  by 
assembling  the  representatives  of  the  clergy  and  laity 
in  one  body.  J  This  part  of  the  original  constitution 
continues  to  the  present  day.  It  was  consented  to 
with  reluctance  by  Bishop  Seabury  and  the  clergy  of 
Connecticut,  when  they  acceded  to  the  union,  in  1789. 
But  on  their  solicitation,  the  article  providing  that  in 
each  state  there  should  be  a  convention  consisting  of 
the  clergy  and  lay  deputies,  was  omitted.  This  omis- 
sion was  not  caused  by  disapprobation  of  the  principle 
of  the  article,  which  has  been  to  the  present  time 
acted  on  in  the  several  states ;  but  was  designed  to 
conciliate  the  clergy  of  Connecticut,  by  allowing  a 
latitude  on  that  subject,  which  would  enable  them  to 
organize  the  convention  of  their  own  state  on  the  prin- 


*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  69.  f     Ibid.,  pp.  71,  72,  344—346. 

I     See  Pamphlet,  pp.  9,  10  ;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  74-^-83,  129. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  125 

ciples  preferred  by  themselves.  Accordingly  all  ec- 
clesiastical matters  were  there  left,  for  a  time,  to  the 
management  of  the  clergy  alone.  The  wisdom  of  this 
conciliatory  course  afterwards  appeared.  The  effect 
of  it  was  to  disarm  opposition,  which  might  have  been 
irritated  and  strengthened  by  a  rigid  requisition  that 
all  the  state  conventions  should  be  so  constituted :  and 
it  excited  a  similar  conciliatory  temper  in  the  clergy  of 
Connecticut.  The  pleasing  consequence  resulted,  that 
in  the  general  convention  of  1792,  lay  as  well  as  cleri- 
cal deputies  appeared  from  that  state:  and  their  state 
convention  has  been  also  organized  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple adopted  in  the  other  states,  by  admitting  into  it 
lay  deputies  from  the  congregations.  On  this  subject 
Bishop  White  makes  the  following  remark:*  "The 
aversion  entertained  by  the  clergy  in  that  state,  to 
this  part  of  the  institution  in  the  more  southern,  had 
been  one  of  the  principal  impediments  to  a  union :  and 
when  it  was  at  last  effected,  it  was  with  a  latitude  to 
them  in  this  article.  Some  of  the  laity,  at  the  time, 
were  afraid  that  this  would  be  the  beginning  of  reject- 
ing them  entirely.  But  the  event  ought  to  be  noticed, 
as  a  proof,  that  forbearance  and  mutual  toleration  are 
at  least  sometimes  a  shorter  way  to  unity  than  severity 
and  stiffness." 

This  admission  of  the  laity  to  a  share  in  the  go- 
vernment, is  at  present,  as  is  believed,  approved  uni- 
versally; and  has  been  found,  in  operation,  highly 

*    Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  202,  203. 


126  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

beneficial :  the  useful  check  mutually  possessed  by  the 
several  orders  on  each  other  securing  caution,  delibe- 
ration, and  a  regard  to  the  advantage  and  sentiments 
of  all  in  framing  its  laws  and  institutions;  and  on  the 
part  of  the  laity,  a  greater  interest  being  naturally 
excited  for  the  advancement  of  the  Church,  and  a 
greater  readiness  to  conform  to  its  laws  and  regula- 
tions, in  consequence  of  their  being  assented  to  by 
their  own  representatives.  Perhaps  no  one  principle 
has  been  more  efficient  in  promoting  union,  harmony, 
and  general  prosperity. 

2.  By  the  constitution,  as  first  adopted,  the  bishops 
were  made  only  members  ex  officio  of  the  convention, 
without  a  recognition  of  their  official  right  to  preside. 
This  was  contrary  to  the  judgment  of  Dr  White,  and 
was  loudly  objected  to  by  the  eastern  clergy.  The 
constitution  as  framed  by  him,  and  reported  by  the 
committee  to  the  convention,  had  provided  that  a 
bishop,  if  any  were  present,  should  preside.  But  it 
was  altered  in  the  convention.  The  clergy,  indeed, 
with  one  exception,  were  in  favour  of  the  clause  as 
reported;  and  could,  as  the  vote  was  by  orders,  have 
prevented  the  alteration.  But  this  would  have  caused 
a  rejection  of  the  whole  clause,  which  appeared  to 
them  wrong;  because  it  contained  nothing  opposed  to 
episcopal  presidency,  and  their  right  to  be  members 
was  an  object  which  ought  to  be  secured.  The  arti- 
cle accordingly  was  passed  without  providing  for  the 
presidency.  "  It  was  considered  that  practice  might 
settle  what  had  better  be  provided  for  by  law :  and 


LIFE  OP  BISHOP  WHITE.  l27 

that  even  such  provision  might  be  the  result  of  a  more 
mature  consideration  of  the  subject.  The  latter  expec- 
tation w^as  justified  by  the  event."* 

It  appears,  clearly,  from  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  Church,  that  the  jealousies  of  episcopal  authority, 
at  first  prevailing  extensively  among  Episcopalians 
themselves,  were  in  a  few  years  removed,  and  were 
succeeded  by  increasing  attachment  and  confidence. 
Experience  of  its  beneficial  operation,  the  moderate 
principles  generally  maintained  respecting  its  needful 
extent,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  actually 
exercised,  have  led  to  a  gradual  and  very  considera- 
ble enlargement  of  it.     The  right  of  presiding  was 
secured  to  the  bishops  in  1786  ;t  and  in  the  first  con- 
vention held  after  their  consecration,  that  of  1789, 
Bishop   White   accordingly  presided.     At   the   first 
session  of  that  convention,  at  which  the  constitution  of 
1786  was   reviewed,   and   finally  ratified,  the  same 
rights  were  conferred  on  them  until  there  should  be 
three  bishops  of  the  Church :  and  it  was  provided  that, 
on  this  event,  they  should  form  a  separate  house :  but 
their  power  was  confined  to  a  revision  of  the  acts  of 
the  other  house,  and  should  their  concurrence  be  re- 
fused, the  act  might  notwithstanding  be  passed  by  a 
majority  of  three-fifths  of  that  house.  J     On  this  sub- 
ject Bishop  White  did  not  take  any  active  part;  "and 
interested   himself  very  little;   being   desirous  that 


*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  93,  94. 

t     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  22— 25.  |     Ibid.,  pp,  61,  62. 


128  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

whatever  additional  powers  it  might  be  thought  ne- 
cessary to  assign  to  the  bishops,  such  powers  should 
not  He  under  the  reproach  of  having  been  pressed  for 
by  one  of  the  number;  but  be  the  result  of  due  deli- 
beration, and  the  free  choice  of  all  orders  of  persons 
within  the  Church,  and  given  with  a  view  to  her  good 
government."^  Their  powers  were  again  enlarged 
by  the  same  convention,  at  its  adjourned  session  in 
September.  For  the  result  of  the  conference  which 
then  took  place  between  Bishop  Seabury,  together 
with  the  eastern  clergy  and  a  committee  of  the  con- 
vention was,  that  the  former  expressed  their  readiness 
to  agree  to  the  constitution  adopted  at  the  preceding 
session,  if  it  was  so  modified  as  to  declare  explicitly 
the  right  of  the  bishops,  when  sitting  in  a  separate 
house,  to  originate  and  propose  acts  for  the  concur- 
rence of  the  other  house,  and  to  negative  such  acts 
proposed  by  that  house,  as  they  might  disapprove.f 
The  convention  assented  to  the  first  clause  of  this 
proposition;  but  added  to  the  second  the  w^ords  "  pro- 
vided they  are  not  adhered  to  by  four-fifths  of  the  other 
house."  From  the  sentiments  expressed  in  debate, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  an  absolute  neoative 
would  have  been  then  agreed  to  without  difficulty, 
had  not  a  lay  delegate  from  Virginia  expressed  an 
apprehension  that  it  was  so  far  beyond  what  was  ex- 
pected by  the  Church  in  that  state,  as  to  cause  their 
dissent  to  the  measures.     In  consequence  of  which,  a 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  171.  f     Journal  (Bioren's),  p.  73. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  129 

proposition  was  offered  to  confer  upon  the  house  of 
bishops  the  full  negative ;  and  it  w^as  ordered  that  it 
should  be  notified  to  the  state  conventions  that  it 
would  be  decided  on  at  the  next  general  convention. 
Bishop  Seabury  and  the  deputies  from  the  churches 
in  New  England  acquiesced,  though  with  reluctance, 
in  this  compromise.*  "Had  there  been  no  more," 
says  Bishop  White,  "than  their  apprehension  of  laws 
passing  by  a  majority  of  four-fifths,  after  a  non-con- 
currence of  the  bishops;  the  extreme  improbability 
of  this  would,  it  is  thought,  have  been  confessed  by 
them.  But  the  truth  is,  they  thought  that  the  frame 
of  ecclesiastical  government  could  hardly  be  called 
Episcopal,  while  such  a  matter  was  held  out  as  specu- 
latively possible." 

The  proposed  amendment  was  several  times,  in  the 
following  conventions,  discussed  in  the  house  of  cleri- 
cal and  lay  deputies, f  without  any  final  determina- 
tion, until  the  convention  of  1808;  when  the  full  nega- 
tive w^as  conferred  on  the  house  of  bishops,  by  striking 
out  of  the  constitution  the  words  "provided  they  are 
not  adhered  to  by  four-fifths  of  the  other  house. "f 
Thus  their  legislative  powers  were  placed  on  an  equa- 
lity, in  every  respect,  with  those  of  the  house  of  cleri- 
cal and  lay  deputies.  The  opinion  of  the  house  of 
deputies  was  unanimous  in  favour  of  the  alteration ; 


*    Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  174,  175. 

f     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  116,  117,  140,  148,  221,  228. 

t     Ibid.,  248,  249,  257. 

M 


130  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

all  the  states,  except  Pennsylvania,  voting  for  it,  and 
that  state  being  divided  only  because  the  lay  depu- 
ties, though  in  favour  of  the  alteration  themselves^ 
believed  that  they  could  not  with  propriety  vote  for 
it,  inasmuch  as  it  did  not  appear  from  the  journals, 
nor  was  it  recollected,  that  notice  of  the  proposed 
alteration  had  been  given  to  the  convention  of  that 
state  according  to  the  constitution.* 

Bishop  White  thus  expresses  his  own  sentiments  on 
the  subject  of  the  full  negative  if  "  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
that  the  recollection  of  the  courK<e  of  this  business,  as 
found  in  the  various  journals,  will  show  the  propriety 
of  leaving  to  time  and  mature  reflection,  to  effect  Avhat 
may  be  for  a  while  opposed  by  prejudices,  not  to  be 
disregarded  without  extreme  danger.  What  is  here 
said,  however,  is  designed  of  those  prejudices  onlyy 
which  may  be  yielded  to  without  the  sacrifice  of  es- 
sential principle.  This  was  the  case  in  the  present 
instance;  and  must  have  been  perceived  to  be  such, 
even  by  those  who  conceive  the  highest  of  episcopal 
claims.  In  the  year  1785,  even  the  necessity  of  the 
presidency  of  a  bishop,  when  such  a  character  should 
be  obtained  by  consecration,  and  should  be  present  in 
the  convention,  was  rejected.  Still,  nothing  was  de- 
creed to  the  contrary ;  and  in  the  next  year,  the  absurd 
prejudice  against  the  proposal  was  overruled.  When 
another  constitution  was  formed  in  1789,  if  a  provision 
for  the  episcopal  negative  had  been  insisted   on,  it 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  258,  259.  t     Ibid-,  257,  258. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE,  131 

would  have  been  destructive  of  the  whole  system. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  many  years  intervening,  no  mea- 
sure has  passed,  under  the  refusal  of  the  episcopal 
sanction.     Indeed,  it  may  be  a  question,  whether,  had 
things  remained  on  the  old  footing  of  the  three-fifths, 
made  necessary  to  carry  any  resolution  contrary  to  the 
opinion  of  the  house  of  bishops,  the  weight  of  their 
negative  would  not  have  had  more  effect,  than  under 
the  present  change.     This  would  have  happened  in 
the  following  manner.     There  would  always  be  in  the 
other  house  a  proportion  who  would  doubt  of  the  va- 
lidity of  a  measure,  adopted  without  the  episcopal 
sanction.     Some  of  these  would   occasionally  differ 
from  the  bishops,  on  a  subject  under  consideration. 
But  when  the  dissent  of  the  bishops  should  have  been 
declared,  those  of  the  description  referred  to  would 
have  thrown  themselves  into  the  scale,  against  the 
putting  of  the  matter  to  the  test  of  the  three-fifths. 
This  supposition  has  been  verified,  in  a  transaction 
which  took  place  between  the  two  houses  of  the  con- 
vention of  1804.     It  is  evident  to  the  author's  mind, 
that  owing  to  the  causes  stated,  while  it  would  be 
scarcely  possible  ever  to  carry  a  measure  against  the 
bishops,  there  would  be  a  discouragement  of  even  that 
free  discussion  with  them,  which  may  be  expected  to 
take  place  sometimes,  under  their  present  full  posses- 
sion of  a  negative."     The  greatest  harmony  has  al- 
ways existed  between  the  two  houses.     And  the  in- 
creasing confidence  in  the  episcopal  authority,  and 
attachment  to  it,  could  scarcely  be  more   strongly 


132  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

manifested  than  it  was  by  the  whole  proceedings  of 
the  convention  of  1835,  the  last  attended  by  Bishop 
White. 

3.  The  article  which  rendered  every  clergyman 
amenable  to  the  convention  of  the  state  to  which  he 
should  belong,  was  objected  to  both  here  and  by  the 
English  bishops,  who  considered  it  "  a  degradation  of 
the  clerical,  and  much  more  of  the  episcopal  charac- 
ter." The  ground  of  the  objection  appears  to  have 
been,  that  it  rendered  a  bishop  liable  to  be  censured 
or  deposed  by  the  decision  of  presbyters  and  laymen, 
and  a  presbyter  or  deacon  by  laymen.  But  this  was 
not  intended.  Nor  did  the  article  so  declare ;  though 
it  may  have  been  faulty  in  omitting  an  explicit  guard 
against  the  matter  objected  to.  They  might  be  amen- 
able to  the  convention,  by  being  liable  to  trial  agree- 
ably to  laws  enacted  by  it.*  Such  an  explanation  w^as 
added  by  Dr  White  to  the  principle,  as  stated  in  his 
pamphlet  of  1782.f  At  the  next  convention,  1786,  a 
clause  was  accordingly  added,  on  his  motion,  provid- 
ing that  "  at  every  trial  of  a  bishop,  there  shall  be  one 
or  more  of  the  episcopal  order  present :  and  none  but 
a  bishop  shall  pronounce  sentence  of  deposition  or 
degradation  from  the  ministry,  on  any  clergyman, 
whether  bishop,  or  presbyter,  or  deacon." J 

4.  The  equal  vote  allowed  to  every  state  was  not 
approved  by  Dr  White :  but  was  insisted  on,  much  to 


*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  94,  95.  f     Ante,  p.  81. 

I     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  22,  25. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE,  133 

Ms  regret.  It  was  the  principle  of  the  articles  of  con- 
federation by  which  the  United  States  were  then  go- 
verned. His  sentiments  on  this  subject  are  contained 
in  a  paper  drawn  up  by  him,  shortly  before  the  gene- 
ral convention  of  1829,  on  several  questions  expected 
to  arise  in  that  convention,  in  consequence  of  the 
terms  on  which  the  Rev.  William  Meade  had  been 
elected  assistant  bishop  of  Virginia.  The  passage  is 
as  follows :  "  There  ha^dng  been  brought  into  vie:w 
the  disproportionate  state  of  the  representation"  (in 
the  house  of  deputies),  "the  writer  will  embrace  the 
opportunity  of  expressing  his  regret,  that  this  w^as  an 
essential  requisition  in  the  organizing  of  the  American 
Church;  and  his  fears  that  it  may,  in  future,  be  the 
cause  of  a  severing  of  the  bond  of  union.  On  the 
occurrence  of  differences  of  views,  on  any  points 
esteemed  deeply  interesting,  if  the  votes  of  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  smaller  number  should  bear  down 
those  of  the  representatives  of  a  confessedly  much 
greater  number,  both  clerical  and  lay,  it  is  not  proba- 
ble, that  the  latter  will  think  themselves  bound,  in 
consequence,  to  compliance.  But  instead  of  being 
discouraged  by  the  anticipation  of  a  possible  rupture, 
let  us  look  up,  with  humble  trust,  to  the  Saviour's 
protection  of  his  Church ;  not  without  the  hope,  that 
she  will  in  time  adopt  the  policy  which  has  governed 
in  the  concerns  of  state;  that  of  moderating  the  sec- 
tional selfishness,  v/hich  gave  birth  to  the  unfair  par- 
tiality in  the  confederation  of  the  thirteen  United 
States;  and  which  has  eventuated  in  the  more  just 


134  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

distribution  of  legislative  power,  of  which  we  may  say, 
in  the  words  of  Father  Paul  of  Venice,  '  esto  perpe- 
tua:  " 

5.  The  mode  in  which  the  proposed  constitution 
should  be  ratified  was  subsequently  changed.  An- 
other convention  assembled  in  June  1786.  It  met 
under  circumstances  very  discouraging,  and  produc- 
ing apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  even  the  most  san- 
guine friends  of  the  Church,  that  her  union,  as  yet 
slight,  and  scarcely  commenced,  and  very  far,  certain- 
ly, from  being  completed,  would  be  wholly  dissolved. 
The  threatening  difficulties  were,  however,  obviated 
by  the  prudent  course  pursued.  They  arose  from 
several  causes ;  two  of  which — dissatisfaction  in  the 
minds  of  some  with  the  Scottish  episcopacy,  and  the 
hesitation  expressed  in  the  first  letter  of  the  English 
bishops — have  been  already  mentioned.  The  others 
were  the  interfering  instructions  given  by  the  state 
conventions  to  their  deputies  in  the  general  conven- 
tion, relative  to  some  of  the  proceedings  of  the  last 
convention ;  and  the  rejection  of  the  proposed  liturgy 
in  some  states,  and  the  use  of  it  in  others.  With  re- 
spect to  the  first,  when  the  documents  had  been  laid 
before  the  convention,  an  embarrassing  and  probably 
exciting  discussion,  not  at  present  necessary,  was 
avoided  by  a  resolution  adopted  on  the  motion  of  Dr 
White,  that  they  should  be  referred  to  the  first  gene- 
ral convention  assembled  with  sufficient  powers  to 
determine  on  them.  These  interfering  instructions, 
however,  proved  ultimately  beneficial;  because  they 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  135 

manifested  the  necessity  of  a  well  constituted  legisla- 
tive body  for  the  whole  church,  and  the  futility  of 
subjecting  their  measures  to  the  review  and  authori- 
tative judgment  of  the  state  conventions,  by  whom  the 
deputies  to  it  were  appointed.  And  such  a  system 
appeared  so  evidently  fruitful  of  discord  and  disunion, 
that  it  was  abandoned  from  this  time.*  One  effect 
of  this  appeared  now.  For  though  the  constitu- 
tion proposed  in  1785  had  been  declared  to  be  funda- 
mental, "  when  ratified  by  the  Church  in  the  different 
states,"  yet  on  the  review  of  it  which  now  took  place, 
that  article  was  altered  so  as  to  require  a  ratification 
"  by  the  Church  in  a  majority  of  the  states  assembled 
in  general  convention,  with  sufficient  power  for  the 
purpose  of  such  ratification. "f  On  the  second  cause 
of  difficulty,  the  expedient  was  adopted  by  the  depu- 
ties of  the  churches  which  received,  and  of  those 
which  had  rejected  or  been  silent  on  the  proposed 
liturgy,  to  leave  the  subject,  with  respect  to  both,  in 
the  same  state  in  which  it  was,  for  the  present.  J 

The  constitution  thus  framed  in  1786  was  acted 
under,  as  formerly  stated,  although  not  ratified  until 
the  convention  of  1789;  at  which  the  deputies  from 
the  several  states  appeared  Avith  sufficient  powers  for 
that  object;  as  was  recommended  by  the  preceding 
convention.  §     And  a  general  constitution  was  then 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  123,  124;  Journal  (Bioren's),  p.  22. 
t     Ibid.,  pp.  23,  26. 

I     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  124  ;  See  Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  24,  25,  art. 
4  and  9.  5     Ibid.,  pp.  26,  48. 


136  MEMOTR  OF  THE 

adopted,  and  finally  ratified,  without  being  submitted 
to  the  state  conventions.  In  order  to  give  stability  to 
it,  by  preventing  hasty  changes,  it  was  also  provided 
that  the  constitution  should  be  unalterable,  unless  in 
general  convention ;  and  that  the  alterations  should  be 
first  proposed  in  one  general,  convention,  and  made 
known  to  the  several  state  conventions,  before  they 
should  be  finally  ratified.* 

III.  Of  the  Liturgy.  The  Liturgy  of  the  Church 
of  England  was  used,  without  alteration,  until  the  4th 
of  July  1776;  on  which  day,  after  the  independence 
of  the  colonies  had  been  declared  by  congress,  a  reso- 
lution was  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  vestry  of  Christ 
Church  and  St  Peter's,  that  in  consequence  of  that 
event  it  would  "  be  proper  to  omit  those  petitions  in 
the  liturgy  wherein  the  king  of  Great  Britain  is  prayed 
for,  as  inconsistent  with  the  said  declaration ;"  and  the 
rector  and  assistant  ministers  were  requested  to  omit 
such  petitions.  No  other  change  took  place  until  the 
convention  of  1785.  One  of  the  subjects  which  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  that  body  was  the  making  of 
such  alterations  in  the  liturgy  as  were  necessary  to 
accommodate  it  to  the  civil  changes  which  had  taken 
place  in  consequence  of  the  revolution.  The  conven- 
tion went  further  on  this  subject  than  was  contem- 
plated in  the  recommendations  of  the  meeting  at  New 
York;  according  to  which  the  liturgy  of  the  Church 

*     Journal  (Bioren's),  p.  63. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  137 

of  England  was  to  be  adhered  to  "as  far  as  shall  be 
consistent  with  the  American  revolution,  and  the  con- 
stitutions of  the  respective  states."  And  when  the 
deputies  first  assembled,  "  very  few,  or  rather,  it  is 
believed,"  says  Dr  White,*  "  none  of  them  entertained 
thoughts  of  altering  the  liturgy  any  further."  "Every 
one,  so  far  as  is  here  known,  wished  for  alterations  in 
the  different  offices.  But  it  was  thought  at  New 
York,  in  the  preceding  year,  that  such  an  enterprize 
could  not  not  be  undertaken,  until  the  Church  should 
be  consolidated  and  organized.  Perhaps  it-  would 
have  been  better  if  the  same  opinion  had  been  conti- 
nued and  acted  on."  But  it  was  found  that,  for  va- 
rious reasons  suggested  in  debate,  a  moderate  review 
fell  in  with  the  sentiments  and  wishes  of  every  mem- 
ber ;  and  there  was  a  persuasion  that  the  communion 
in  general  would  be  gratified  by  it,  and  readily  acqui- 
esce. It  was  therefore  undertaken.  The  alterations 
were  prepared  by  another  subdivision  of  the  general 
committee  appointed,  than  that  to  which  Dr  White 
belonged,  and  were  not  reconsidered  in  that  committee, 
as  the  same  ground  would  be  gone  over  in  convention. 
Even  in  the  convention,  few  points  v/ere  canvassed 
with  any  material  difference  of  opinion. f  Their  pro- 
ceedings resulted  in  only  proposing  and  recommend- 
ing the  liturgy  as  altered  by  them ;  which,  however, 
never  received  the  first  sanction  of  the  Church.  It 
was  published  by  order  of  the  convention,  in  what 

*    Memoirs,  (1st  ed.),  pp.  102,  103.  f     Ibid.,  pp.  104—110. 


138  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

has  been  always  since  called  "the  Proposed  Book;" 
the  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  being  Dr 
White,  Dr  William  Smith,  and  Dr  Wharton.  It  was 
directed  that  '*  the  book  be  accompanied  with  a  proper 
preface,  or  address,  setting  forth  the  reason  and  expe- 
diency of  the  alterations:"  and  the  committee  had 
"liberty  to  make  verbal  and  grammatical  corrections; 
but  in  such  manner,  as  that  nothing  in  form  or  sub- 
stance be  altered:"  and  they  were  authorized  to  pub- 
lish with  it,  "such  of  the  reading  and  singing  psalms, 
and  such  a  calendar  of  proper  lessons  for  the  different 
Sundays  and  holydays  throughout  the  year,  as  they 
may  think  proper."* 

On  this  committee,  Dr  White  undertook  and  per- 
formed the  task  of  selecting  the  lessons  from  Scripture 
for  the  Sundays  and  holydays  throughout  the  year, 
including  the  second  lessons,  which  are  not,  except  in 
a  few  instances,  appointed  in  the  English  book,  but 
are  taken  from  the  calendar.  Suggestions,  with  re- 
spect to  some  of  them,  were  made  by  Dr  Wharton. 
They  were,  for  the  most  part,  the  same  with  those 
now  appointed  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The 
selection  and  arrangement  of  the  readingf  and  metre 
psalms  and  the  hymns,  were  undertaken  by  Drs 
Smith  and  Wharton.  And  the  preface  was  prepared 
by  Dr  Smith.:}:     The  liturgy,  thus  altered,  was  volun- 

*     Journal  (Bioren's),  p.  15. 

t  See  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  112  ;  where  Dr  White's  dissent  from  the 
opinion  of  the  other  members  of  the  committee  is  stated. 

I  The  parts  performed  by  the  several  members  of  the  committee  are 
stated  from  letters  of  Drs  Smith  and  Wharton  to  Dr  White. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  189 

tarily  nsed  in  some  of  the  churches:  but  it  was  disap- 
proved by  others,  who  continued  to  use  the  former  one, 
with  those  changes  only  which  adapted  it  to  the  civil 
state  of  the  country. 

The  variations  from  the  English  liturgy  in  this 
"proposed  book,"  were  much  more  numerous  and 
important  than  those  which  were  introduced  on  the 
subsequent  review  in  1789.  But  they  were  not  re- 
garded by  the  English  bishops  as  essentially  departing 
from  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  England,  except 
in  relation  to  the  creeds.  They  were  thought,  how- 
ever, by  many,  to  be  greater  than  the  situation  or 
wishes  of  the  Church  required  or  justified.  This  cir- 
cumstance, combined  with  the  doubts  of  the  propriety 
of  engaging  at  all  in  the  enterprise  of  making  altera- 
tions before  the  Church  was  consolidated  and  oro-an- 
ized,  produced  much  opposition.  And  a  useful  warn- 
ing was  thus  given  against  introducing,  without  very 
obvious  necessity  or  advantage,  extensive  changes  in 
institutions  to  which  the  members  of  the  Church  have, 
by  long  usage,  become  attached. 

When  the  book  was  laid  before  the  state  conven- 
tions, their  resolutions  in  relation  to  it  were  very 
various.  Different  and  opposing  instructions  on  the 
subject  were  given  to  their  deputies  in  the  succeeding 
convention,  to  be  held  in  1786.  The  manner  in  which 
the  difficulties  likely  to  arise  from  them  were  obviated, 
was  mentioned  in  a  preceding  page,* 

*     A7ite,  pp.  134,  13.5. 


140  Memoir  of  the 

After  the  convention  of  1789  had  passed  their  reso- 
lution in  favour  of  the  vaUdity  of  Bishop  Seabury's 
consecration,  and  he,  v^ith  the  eastern  clergy,  had 
agreed  to  the  constitution,  there  were  three  recognized 
bishops  of  the  Church.  According  to  the  constitution, 
they  now  formed  a  separate  house,  and  assembled  as 
such;  only  two,  however,  being  present,  as  Bishop 
Provoost  was  detained  at  home  by  illness.  The  con- 
vention was  thus  fully  organized,  and  was  regarded 
by  all — whatever  differences  of  opinion  had  existed 
relative  to  the  powers  of  former  conventions — as  pos- 
sessed of  complete  authority  to  adopt  alterations  of  the 
liturgy,  and  all  other  legislative  measures  requisite 
for  the  government  of  the  Church.  A  review  of  the 
liturgy  took  place.  Some  of  the  proposed  alterations 
originated  in  the  house  of  bishops,  and  others  in  the 
house  of  deputies.  The  proceedings  of  the  former, 
composed  of  only  two  members,  who,  though  differing 
in  opinion  on  some  points,  were  mutually  disposed  to 
concession  on  such  as  did  not  involve  essential  prin- 
ciples, were  more  expeditious  than  those  of  the  latter. 
And  there  was  a  striking  difference  in  the  course 
adopted  in  the  consideration  of  the  liturgy,  by  the  two 
houses.  The  bishops  proceeded  on  the  principle  that 
the  Church,  being  the  same  body  which  existed  before 
the  revolution,  though  under  another  name,  was  still 
in  possession  of  all  the  institutions  previously  received, 
except  so  far  as  they  were  necessarily  changed  by 
that  event,  until  they  were  altered  by  proper  autho- 
rity.    They  therefore  took  the  former  liturgy  as  the 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  141 

basis  of  their  measures,  and  proposed  alterations. 
While  the  other  house  proceeded  as  if  the  Church  was 
destitute  of  any  institutions  until  they  were  provided 
by  the  authority  of  the  convention,  and  appointed  com- 
mittees to  prepare  de  novo  the  several  offices.*  This 
differed  from  the  course  taken  both  by  previous  and 
subsequent  conventions;  and  being  confined  to  one 
house,  and  not  at  any  time  afterwards  pursued,  cannot 
be  regarded  as  an  authoritative  determination  against 
the  principle  adopted  by  the  bishops.  In  this  manner 
the  liturgy  was  reviewed,  and  reduced  to  the  form  in 

*  Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  78,  79  ;  see  pp.  107, 108  ante.  Dr  White's 
own  sentiments  on  this  subject  are  stated  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Church 
(1st  ed.),  pp.  175 — 178.  In  reference  to  the  general  principle  above  men- 
tioned, the  following  foots  appear  to  be  important  and  interesting.  No 
notice  was  taken  of  the  offices  for  ordination,  either  in  the  "proposed 
book"  or  on  the  review  in  1789.  They  were  first  reviewed,  altered  and 
agreed  to  by  the  two  houses  in  the  convention  of  1792.  (Journal,  pp. 
117,  123,  124.)  But  notwithstanding,  Dr  White,  in  the  ordinations 
which  took  place  previously  in  Pennsylvania,  used  the  offices  of  the 
Church  of  England,  omitting  only  those  parts  which  have  a  relation  to 
the  government  and  laws  of  Great  Britain.  This  was  conformable  to  his 
constant  opinion,  that  the  old  institutions  remained  in  force,  except  as 
far  as  necessarily  changed  by  the  revolution,  until  altered  by  the  autho- 
rity of  the  Church.  (See  Comparative  Views  of  the  Calvinistic  and 
Arminian  Controversy,  vol.  2,  pp.  191, 192.)  The  same  principle  affect- 
ed another  subject,  which  was  at  different  times  brought  before  the  gene- 
ral convention,  but  not  decided  upon — the  table  of  the  degrees  of  con- 
sanguinity and  affinity,  within  which  marriages  are  prohibited  by  the 
Church  of  England.  (See  Journal,  p.  259 ;  Memoirs,  p.  32.)  It  was 
referred  to  a  committee,  of  which  Bishop  White  was  cliairman.  A  re- 
port was  prepared  by  him,  but  docs  not  appear  to  have  been  made  to  the 
convention.  It  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix,  with  parts  of  two  letters  to 
Bishop  Hobart,  on  the  same  subject.  Appendix,  No.  III. 
N 


142  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

which  it  stili  continues,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
shght  alterations  since  made.* 

The  psalms  and  hymns  in  metre  are  not  properly 
a  part  of  the  liturgy;  but  being  contained  in  the  same 
book,  may  properly  be  here  mentioned.  -  In  the  '' pro- 
posed book,"  a  selection  was  made  from  Tate  and 
Brady's  version  of  the  Psalms;  to  which  fifty-one 
hymns  were  added.  But  the  convention  of  1789  re- 
jected the  selection  of  psalms,  inserted  the  whole  of 
Tate  and  Brady's  version,  and  added  only  twenty-six 
hymns.  Thirty  others  were  afterwards  selected  by 
the  general  convention  in  1808.  Bishop  White's 
sentiments  on  these  measures  are  stated  at  large  in  his 
Memoirs  of  the  Church. f  Some  evils  which  he  prog- 
nosticated, in  fact  resulted.  The  satisfaction  with 
the  selection  of  hymns  did  not  long  continue.  After 
a  few  conventions,  a  strong  desire  existed  in  a  great 
part  of  the  Church,  to  enlarge  their  number.  And  a 
selection  from  the  Psalms,  instead  of  the  whole  ver- 
sion, was  also  w^ished  for.  Both  propositions  were 
disapproved  by  him.|     But  when  they  were  adopted 

*  On  some  points  the  two  houses  differed  in  opinion.  These  related 
to  the  Athanasian  creed,  the  article  of  the  descent  into  hell  in  the  Apos- 
_  ties'  creed,  and  the  reading  psalms.  Some  individual  deputies  objected 
also  to  the  alteration  of  the  consecration  prayer,  in  the  communion  ser- 
vice. Dr  White's  course  and  sentiments  on  them  are  detailed  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Church  (1st  ed.),  pp.  110—114,  179—198,  285,  286  ;  to 
which  I  can  make  no  addition. 

t     (1st  ed.),  pp.  262—276. 

\  He  laid  before  the  joint  committee  a  paper  containing  his  senti- 
ments, which  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Memoirs  of  the  Church 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  143 

by  the  two  houses,  and  a  joint  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  make  the  selection  of  psalms  and  hymns, 
he  was  one  of  the  bishops  named  on  it,  and  freely  gave 
his  aid  in  accomplishing  the  work.  The  selections 
made  are  those  now  in  use. 

The  alterations  in  the  ordination  offices,  on  the 
review  of  them  in  1792,  were  prepared  by  the  bishops. 
There  was  no  material  difference  of  opinion,  except 
in  regard  to  the  words  used  by  the  bishop  with  the 
imposition  of  hands  in  the  ordination  of  j)riests — "  Re- 
ceive the  Holy  Ghost,"  &c.  Bishop  Seabury,  who 
alone  was  tenacious  of  this  form,  consented,  at  last, 
with  great  reluctance,  to  allow  the  alternative — "  Take 
thou  authority  to  execute  the  office  of  a  priest,"  &c., 
as  it  now  stands.* 

IV.  Of  the  Articles  of  Religion.  In  the  "pro- 
posed book,"  the  articles  w^ere  reduced  in  number  to 
twenty.  These  were  regarded  by  the  English  bishops 
as  containing  the  essential  principles  of  the  Gospel; 
and  no  objection  was  made  to  them,  except  to  that 
relating  to  the  creeds,  as  already  mentioned.  But 
they   never   received   the    sanction   of  the   Church. 

(•2d  ed.),  No.  35.  In  the  Appendix  to  this  Memoir  (No.  IV.),  will  be 
found  two  letters  (on  a  kindred  subject)  written  by  him  to  the  Rev.  Dr 
Abercrombie,  and  occasioned  by  a  publication  of  the  Rev.  Dr  William 
Smith  (of  New  York),  on  chanting  compared  with  singing  in  metre: 
from  which  it  appears  that  he  was,  so  far  as  he  knew,  the  first  clergyman 
in  the  United  States  who  introduced  chanting  into  any  of  our  churches. 
See  also  Memoirs  (2d  ed.),  pp.  261,  262,  264. 
*    See  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  203,  204. 


144  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

While  they  were  under  consideration  in  the  conven- 
tion, Dr  White  manifested  his  anxiety  to  prevent  the 
use  of  any  language  having  a  tendency,  even  though 
only  apparent,  to  oppose  the  great  doctrine  that  salva- 
tion is  of  mere  grace.  The  article  on  justification,  as 
proposed  in  the  report  of  the  subcommittee,  w^as  ob- 
jected to  by  him  and  Dr  Griffith.  It  was  at  last  with- 
drawn, and  the  eleventh  article  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land inserted.  Their  objection  to  the  proposed  article 
"was  its  being  liable  to  a  construction  contrary  to  the 
great  evangelical  truth,  that  salvation  is  of  grace.  It 
would  have  been  a  forced  construction,  but  not  to  be 
disregarded."  At  that  time  he  was  desirous  that  the 
article  on  predestination  "should  be  accommodated, 
not  to  individual  condition,  and  to  everlasting  reward 
and  punishment,  but  to  national  designation,  and  to  a 
state  of  covenant  with  God  in  the  present  life."  The 
language  proposed  by  him,  and  inserted  by  the  con- 
vention of  Pennsylvania,  in  their  instructions  to  their 
deputies  in  the  general  convention  in  17S6,  was : 
"  Predestination  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God, 
whereby  (before  the  foundations  of  the  world  were 
laid)  he  hath  constantly  decreed,  by  his  counsel,  to 
admit  to  the  inestimable  privileges  of  the  Gospel  dis- 
pensation, all  those  Gentiles,  as  well  as  Jews,  who 
should  believe  in  his  son  Jesus  Christ :  they,  through 
grace,  obey  the  calling  of  God :  they  be  justified  freely : 
they  be  made  sons  of  God  by  adoption :  they  be  made 
like  the  image  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  Jesus  Christ : 
they  walk  religiously  in  good  works:  and  at  length, 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  145 

by  God's  mercy,  they  attain  to  everlasting  felicity."* 
This  view  of  the  subject  he  always  continued  to  enter- 
tain: but  was  afterwards  "convinced,  that  the  intro- 
ducing- of  it  as  an  article  would  have  endanorered 
needless  controversy,  on  the  meanings  of  the  terms 
predestination  and  election,  as  used  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. If  we  cannot  do  away  the  ground  of  contro- 
versy heretofore  laid,  it  at  least  becomes  us  to  avoid 
the  furnishing  of  new  matter  for  the  excitement  of  it."t 
Had  articles  been  afterwards  framed  anew,  he  would, 
without  doubt,  have  advocated  the  entire  omission  of 
the  subject.! 

The  thirty-nine  articles  of  the  Church  of  England, 
with  the  exception  of  the  political  parts  abrogated  by 
the  revolution,  were  still  the  acknowledged  faith  of 
this  Church,  even  before  they  were  sanctioned  by  any 
resolution  of  the  convention.  But  without  some  modi- 
fications in  their  language,  and  in  the  manner  in  which 
they  should  be  set  forth,  they  could  not,  with  pro- 
priety, be  published  as  her  confession  of  faith. § 
They  were  long  under  the  consideration  of  the  general 
convention. 

In  the  early  periods  of  the  discussion,  there  was 
much  difference  of  sentiment  on  the  expediency  of 
having  articles  of  religion  at  all.||     Bishop  Madison 

*    Journal  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  15,  16. 
t     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  107—109. 

I     See  1  Comp.  Views,  p.  140;  2  Comp.  Views,  pp.  61,  62, 
5     Menaoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  229;  2  Comp.  Views,  p.  192- 
H     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  205—208,  230—232. 
N* 


146  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

gave  his  opinion  against  them  altogether,  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Confessional,  and  the  like  books;  and 
Bishop  Provoost,  as  Dr  White  always  supposed,  did 
not  materially  differ  from  him,  but  being  in  the  presi- 
dential chair  at  the  time  of  the  discussion  in  his  pre- 
sence, did  not  deliver  his  sentiments.  Bishop  Sea- 
bury  at  first  expressed  in  conversation  a  doubt  whether 
it  were  expedient  to  have  any;  thinking  that  all  ne- 
cessary doctrine  should  be  comprehended  in  the  litur- 
gy, by  which  the  object  of  articles  might  be  accom- 
plished. But  afterwards,  he  saw  so  clearly  the 
inconveniences  likely  to  result  from  the  want  of  an 
authoritative  form  of  public  confession,  that  he  wished 
to  adopt  one,  and,  as  was  understood,  the  code  of  the 
thirty-nine  articles.  Bishop  Claggett  was  in  favour 
of  them.  Bishop  White  "professed  himself  an  advo- 
cate for  articles;*  the  abolishing  of  which  would,  he 
thought,  only  leave  with  every  pastor  of  a  congrega- 
tion the  right  of  judging  of  orthodoxy,  according  to 
his  discretion  or  his  prejudices ;  while  the  articles  de- 
termine that  matter  by  a  rule,  issuing  from  the  pub- 
lic authority  of  the  Church." 

In  1789  the  bishops  proposed  a  ratification  of  the 
thirty-nine  articles,  with  an  exception  in  regard  to  the 
thirty -sixth  and  thirty-seventh ;  but,  with  their  con- 
currence, the  subject  was  referred,  in  the  house  of 
deputies,  to  a  future  convention. f  In  1792,  the 
bishops  were  ready  to  undertake  the  review  of  them ; 

*     See  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  205—208,  229—241. 
t     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  85,  92. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  147 

but  as  the  churches  in  some  of  the  states  were  not 
represented  in  that  convention,  and  others  only  par- 
tially, the  subject  was  postponed  by  the  house  of  de- 
puties.* For  similar  reasons,  it  was  again  postponed 
by  the  convention  of  1795,  on  the  proposal  of  the 
bishops. t  At  the  next  convention,  in  1799,  it  was 
brought  before  the  house  of  deputies ;  which  "  resolved 
itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  propriety  of  framing  articles  of  religion." 
The  committee  of  the  whole  reported  to  the  house  a 
resolution,  "that  the  articles  of  our  faith  and  religion, 
as  founded  on  the  holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  are  sufficiently  declared  in  our  creeds 
and  liturgy,  as  set  forth  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  established  for  the  use  of  this  Church;  and 
that  further  articles  do  not  appear  necessary."  But 
this  was  negatived  in  the  house  :  and  a  committee  was 
subsequently  appointed  to  frame  articles.  They  re- 
ported seventeen.  But  the  house  of  deputies  resolved 
that,  on  account  of  the  advanced  period  of  the  session, 
and  the  thinness  of  the  convention,  the  consideration 
of  them  should  be  postponed ;  and  that  the  secretary 
should  transcribe  the  articles  into  the  journal,  to  lie 
over  for  the  consideration  of  the  next  general  conven- 
tion.! O^  this  publication  of  the  proposed  articles  in 
the  journal,  Dr  White  remarks,  that  "the  bishops  had 
no  opportunity  of  expressing  their  sense  on  the  ques- 

*    Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  117,  124 ;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  208. 

t    Journal,  pp.  148, 140, 144.  J     Ibid.,  164, 165, 167,  168—172. 


148  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tion  of  publishing  the  draft  of  articles  which  it  (the 
journal)  contains.  Such  a  publication  was  certainly 
very  injudicious;  if  for  no  other  reason,  because  it 
might  have  been  expected  to  be  easily  mistaken  for 
the  sense  of  at  least  one  of  the  houses  of  the  conven- 
tion. Indeed  it  was  so  misunderstood :  whereas  it  was 
the  sense  of  a  committee  only;  not  an  individual  be- 
sides having  delivered  in  his  place  any  opinion  on  any 
article.  But  this  w^as  not  the  worst.  It  tended  to 
excite  religious  acrimony,  without  any  possible  good 
effect  at  the  present;  and  with  the  probable  bad  effect 
of  the  greater  acrimony,  on  an  opportunity  of  settle- 
ment in  future."*  He  disapproves  of  the  application 
of  the  term  "priesthood,"  in  one  of  the  articles,  "to 
denote  all  the  orders  of  the  Christian  ministry ;  and 
not  confined  to  the  order  of  presbyters,  as  in  the  estab- 
lished ordinal;  of  the  former  of  which  there  is  no 
example  in  the  institutions  of  the  Church  of  England." 
And  he  adds  ;  "It  is  not  here  designed  to  charge  any 
other  fault  on  the  articles  proposed.  They  are,  in  sub- 
stance, what  is  contained  in  the  thirty-nine  articles, 
without  any  superaddition,  except  in  the  particular 
stated.  But  the  remarks  may  serve  to  show,  that  in 
the  work  of  clearing  that  code  of  what  may  be  thought 
unnecessary  positions,  there  is  danger  of  admitting 
some  novelty,  more  fruitful  of  controversy  than  what 
may  be  done  away.  In  the  present  instance,  the  no- 
velty introduced  is  susceptible  of  the  construction,  of 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  224. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  149 

obtruding  on  the  church  the  notions  of  'sacrifice,'  in 
the  strict  and  proper  sense;  of  'altar'  as  the  place  of 
it;  and  of  'priest'  as  the  sacrificer."* 

The  articles  were  at  length  reviewed  and  established 
bj  a  resolution  of  the  two  houses,  in  1801.  As  the 
subject  had  been  so  frequently  before  them,  and  in 
various  forms,  the  fullest  opportunity  had  been  given 
to  ascertain  the  sentiments  of  the  Church  at  larffe, 
and  to  adopt  deliberately  the  most  judicious  determi- 
nation. "  As  to  repeated  discussions  and  propositions, 
it  had  been  found  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  as 
they  stand  in  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  the  Church  of 
England,  with  the  exception  of  such  matters  as  are 
local,  were  more  likely  to  give  general  satisfaction, 
than  the  same  doctrines  in  any  new  form  that  might 
be  devised.  The  former  were  therefore  adopted  by 
the  two  houses  of  convention,  without  their  altering  of 
even  the  obsolete  diction  in  them ;  but  with  notices  of 
such  changes  as  change  of  situation  had  rendered 
necessary.  Exclusively  of  such,  there  is  one  excep- 
tion ;  that  of  adopting  the  article  concerning  the  creeds, 
to  the  former  exclusion  of  the  Athanasian."t  By  the 
form  of  the  resolution  of  the  two  houses,  J  the  previous 
obligation  of  the  articles  as  a  profession  of  religious 
faith,  is  impliedly  recognized  :  the  language  being — 
"the  articles  of  religion  are  hereby  ordered  to  be  set 
forth,  with  the  following  directions  to  be  observed  in 


*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  226.  f     Ibid.,  p.  28. 

I    Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  206,  207. 


150  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

all  future  editions  of  the  same:"  and  again;  "the  arti- 
cles to  stand  as  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  of  the 
Church  of  England,  with  the  following  alterations 
and  omissions." 

The  reasons  for  adhering  to  the  thirty-nine  articles, 
in  reference  to  forming  new  ones,  are  thus  stated  by 
Dr  White.*  "When  the  question  has  been  put — 
Whether  the  thirty-nine  articles  are  the  best  rule  that 
can  be  devised;  the  author  has  answered,  that  he 
thought  them  better  than  any  other,  likely  to  be  ob- 
tained under  present  circumstances.  Conventional 
business  is  too  much  hurried,  and  the  members  of  the 
conventions  are  not  sufficiently  retired  from  other 
avocations,  for  the  entering  on  determinations  of  this 
magnitude.  Even  if  the  greater  number  of  the  body 
should  be  conceded  to  be  sufficiently  learned  for  the 
work;  ecclesiastical  legislation  has  not  been  of  suffi- 
ciently long  standing  in  this  Church,  to  have  estab- 
lished the  characters  of  those  who  exercise  it,  as  to 
this  point,  in  the  estimation  of  the  world.  Until  such 
a  character  shall  be  established,  a  few  obstinate  or 
factious  men  will  overset,  in  their  respective  congre- 
gations, what  shall  have  been  enacted  in  convention. 
Besides,  many  persons  among  the  laity,  and  some 
even  among  the  clergy,  had  declared  their  determina- 
tion to  abide  by  the  articles  at  all  events :  which  made 
it  much  to  be  feared  that  a  schism  would  take  place, 
whenever  any  material  change  should  be  determined 

*    Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp .  205—207 ;  see  also  pp.  232—234. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  151 

on.  In  this  case,  they  who  should  adhere  to  the  arti- 
cles, would  claim  their  relation  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land; while  it  would  be  questionable,  whether  the 
others  w^ould  have  any  permanent  tie  among  them- 
selves. 

"Therefore,  the  author  wished  for  an  adherence  to 
the  thirty-nine  articles,  not  excepting  the  general 
principles  maintained  in  the  political  parts  of  them; 
but  with  an  exception,  in  the  ratification,  of  the  local 
application  of  the  said  parts  according  to  the  letter  of 
them.  But  he  did  not  wish  to  have  the  articles  signed, 
as  in  England,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  thirty- 
sixth  canon  of  that  church.  He  preferred  the  resting 
of  the  obligation  of  them  on  the  promises  made  at  ordi- 
nation, as  required  by  the  seventh  article  of  the  con- 
stitution,*  considered  as  sufficient  by  the  English 
bishops :  which  would  render  them  articles  of  peace, 
as  they  are  sometimes  said  to  be  in  the  Church  of 
England ;  but  not  with  such  evident  propriety  as  they 
would  then  be  in  the  American  Church.  As  the 
author  approves  of  the  general  tenor  of  the  thirty-nine 
articles,  he  trusted,  that  however  he  might  have  sup- 
posed, in  his  private  judgment,  the  possibility  of  omit- 
ting some  of  them,  and  of  altering  others  to  advantage ; 
yet  not  perceiving  a  probability,  either  that  such  a 
change,  if  made,  would  have  been  for  the  better;  or, 
that  if  so,  it  would  have  found  such  general  accep- 


■*     No  other  assent  to  the   articles  has  yet  been    required   in    our 
Church. 


152  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tance  as  to  prove  a  sufficient  bond  of  union ;  he  thouo-ht 
he  acted  consistently,  in  endeavouring  to  obtain  them 
on  the  terms  stated."* 

V.  Of  the  Canons.  A  code  of  canons  was  to  be 
framed  for  the  regulation  of  the  Church — a  matter  of 
importance  and  difficulty.  Dr  White's  experience, 
learning  and  judgment  were  of  signal  use  in  forming 
and  improving  it.  It  was  almost  entirely  a  work  to 
be  commenced  de  novo.  For  though  the  canons  of 
the  Church  of  England  supplied  many  excellent  prin- 
ciples, worthy  of  being  adopted,  yet  the  situation  of 
the  two  churches  was  so  different,  that  no  further  aid 
could  be  derived  from  them.  In  England  there  ex- 
isted the  metropolitan  authority,  ecclesiastical  courts 
with  extensive  powers  and  a  regular  course  of  pro- 
ceeding, and  various  subordinate  church  officers :  and 
with  a  reference  to  all  these  her  canons  were  formed. 
But  none  of  them  existed  in  the  church  in  the  United 
States.  Her  organization  was  very  simple;  and  the 
exercise  of  executive  and  judicial  powers,  and  the 
administration  of  other  parts  of  discipline,  were  to  be 
regulated  by  canonical  rules  accommodated  to  it. 
The  work  w^as  commenced  by  the  convention  of  1789; 
at  the  first  session  of  which  ten  canons  were  adopted, 
and  a  committee,  of  which  Bishop  White  was  chair- 

*  A  mode  of  reviewing  the  articles,  if  a  review  should  be  thought 
proper  (of  which,  however,  he  did  not  perceive  that  there  was  now  any 
need),  is  recommended  by  him  ;  See  Memoirs  (1st  cd.),  pp.  225,  226, 
240  ;  2  Comp.  Views,  192. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  153 

man,  was  appointed  to  report  additional  canons  to  the 
next  session.     That  committee  reviewed  the  former 
ten  canons,  and  added  others,  reporting  seventeen ; 
which  were  adopted  by  tlie  two  houses,  without  any 
interesting  difference  of  opinion.*     It  is  a  proof  of  the 
care  and  judgment  with  which  they  were  compiled, 
that  the  principles  contained  in  them  still  remain, 
with  little  material  alteration,  in  the  canons  now  in 
force.     They  were  enlarged  and  improved  from  time 
to  time ;  as  the  wants  of  the  Church  and  experience 
of  their  practical  operation  suggested :  until,  in  1832, 
after  a  careful  and  deliberate  review  and  enlargement 
of  them  by  a  committee  appointed  six  years  before,  a 
wise  and  well-matured  body  of  canons  was  established 
by  the  general  convention;  in  which  very  few  altera- 
tions, and  those  not  of  considerable  importance,  have 
been  since  found  useful.     In  all  these  proceedings, 
Bishop  White  took  a  prominent  part;  and  his  opinions, 
on  the  various  subjects  considered,   were   carefully 
formed,  and  much  respected.     In  the  interpretation  of 
the  canons,  also,  and  the  application  of  their  princi- 
ples to  particular  cases,  he  manifested  great  ability 
and  judgment:  so  that  he  was  very  frequently  con- 
sulted by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  other  dio- 
ceses.    And  this  was  not  a  consequence  of  his  station 
of  presiding  bishop;   for  in  that  he  possessed  no  au- 
thority on  this  subject,  superior  to  that  of  any  other 


*    Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  58—60,  83,  84,  93—99;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.), 
24,  189. 

0 


154  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

bishop;  but  of  respect  for  himself  personally,  and  of 
confidence  in  his  skill,  experience  and  impartiality. 

Having  thus,  as  formerly  proposed,*  stated  the  facts 
relating  to  the  course  pursued  on  the  most  interesting 
subjects,  until  the  leading  principles  for  governing 
the  Church  and  regulating  its  doctrines  and  worship 
became  settled,  we  now  revert  to  the  regular  course 
of  the  incidents  subsequent  to  the  convention  of  1789. 

By  the  proceedings  of  that  body,  and  by  the  conse- 
cration of  Dr  Madison  by  the  English  bishops,  in  the 
following  year,  tlfe  Church  became  happily  and  fully 
organized.  But  for  a  considerable  period,  her  pro- 
gress in  improvement  was  slow  and  gradual.  It  re- 
quired a  long  time  to  elapse,  and  steady  and  laborious, 
though  unostentatious  exertions  to  be  used,  before  the 
operation  of  her  government  and  institutions  could  be 
felt,  and  their  beneficial  influence  become  manifest. 
The  number  of  clergy  also,  without  an  increased  sup- 
ply of  whom  an  extension  of  her  bounds  could  not  be 
expected,  was  slowly  enlarged.  In  Bishop  "White's 
diocese,  the  number  continued,  for  some  years,  so  small, 
that  even  the  old  parishes  existing  before  the  revolu- 
tion could  not  be  supplied.  Endeavours  w^ere  used, 
by  the  settled  clergy  of  the  diocese,  to  supply  them 
with  occasional  services,  according  to  resolutions 
passed  by  the  state  convention.  But  the  effect  could 
be  only  to  preserve  them  in  existence  and  union,  with- 
out contributing,  in  any  important  degree,  to  their 
improvement  and  enlargement :  much  less  could  the 

*     Ante,  p.  106. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  155 

formation  of  new  congregations  be  attempted.  In 
this  depressed,  though  gradually  improving  condition, 
the  Church  in  Pennsylvania  continued  in  the  remain- 
der of  the  century,  and  several  of  the  early  years  of 
the  next.  During  this  period  nothing  further  occurred, 
v/orthy  of  relation,  except  a  few  facts  relating  to  the 
Church,  and  some  unconnected  but  interesting  inci- 
dents in  his  own  life ;  which  will  be  briefly  mentioned 
in  order,  from  this  period  until  the  year  1812. 

The  general  convention  again  assembled  in  1792, 
in  New  York.  And  the  prudence  and  influence  of 
Dr  White  were  employed  with  success,  in  preventing 
an  apprehended  embarrassment  and  interruption  of 
harmony  in  the  house  of  bishops.  The  causes  of  ap- 
prehension arose  from  the  private  situation  of  Bishops 
Provoost  and  Seabury,  in  relation  to  each  other ;  from 
a  dissatisfaction  entertained  by  Bishops  Provoost  and 
Madison,  with  a  rule  adopted  in  1789,  to  regulate  the 
presidency  of  that  house ;  and  from  a  suspicion  on  the 
part  of  Bishop  Seabury,  that  it  was  intended  to  ex- 
clude him  from  taking  any  part  in  the  expected  con- 
secration of  Dr  Claggett,  as  bishop  of  Maryland. 
The  last  of  these  was  formerly  explained.*  The  first 
was  removed  by  procuring,  through  the  medium  of 
Dr  White,  an  interview  between  those  two  bishops,! 
w^hich  was  readily  acceded  to  by  both;  no  personal 
offence  appearing  to  have  been  given  on  either  side, 
though    their    intercourse  had    been  prevented  by 

*    Ante,  p.  121.  f    Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  pp.  199,  200. 


156  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Bishop  Provoost's  well  known  opinion  against  the 
validity  of  the  Scotch  succession.  And  nothing  sub- 
sequently occurred  to  interrupt  their  harmony.  With 
regard  to  the  second  cause  of  apprehension,  it  is  to  be 
remarked,  that  when  the  bishops  first  assembled  as  a 
separate  house,  in  1789,  only  two  of  them  attended ; 
Bishop  Provoost  having  been  detained  at  home  by 
illness.  Dr  White,  never  ambitious  of  precedency, 
and  being  the  younger  bishop  present,  proposed  as 
a  permanent  rule  of  order,  which  was  accordingly 
adopted,  that  "the  senior  bishop  present  shall  be  the 
president;  seniority  to  be  reckoned  from  the  dates  of 
the  letters  of  consecration."  It  was  intended  to  pre- 
vent all  discussion  respecting  precedency ;  and  of 
course  made  Bishop  Seabury  president  of  the  house.* 
When  the  bishops  met,  in  1792,  it  appeared  that 
Bishops  Provoost  and  Madison  were  dissatisfied  with 
this  rule.  Dr  White  still  retained  his  opinion,  that  it 
was  the  correct  one,  and  could  not  consistently  vote 
for  its  repeal;  so  that  the  house  must  be  equally  di- 
vided, and  the  old  rule  retained.  But  to  avoid  the 
appearance  of  taking  an  ungenerous  advantage  of  the 
former  meeting,  at  which  Dr  Seabury  and  himself 
alone  had  been  present,  he  agreed  that  if  the  former 
thought  proper  to  waive  his  right  under  the  rule — of 
which  he  had  intimated  that  he  should  not  be  tena- 
cious— the  better  course  would  be  that  one  of  them 
should  absent  himself  from  the  house  that  morning. 

*     Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  178 ;  Journal  (Bioren's),  p.  87. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  157 

Accordingly  Dr  White  did  so;  and  the  rule  was 
altered,  and  the  presidency  directed  to  be  held  by  the 
bishops  in  rotation,  beginning  at  the  north.  Bishop 
Seabury  having  presided  at  the  last  convention.  Bishop 
Provoost,  of  course,  became  now  the  president.*  In 
1804,  however,  the  former  rule  was  again  established, f 
and  Dr  White  became,  and  continued  to  be,  the  pre- 
siding bishop  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
had,  indeed,  been  before  called  to  preside  in  every 
convention  after  that  of  1792,  either  in  rotation,  or  in 
consequence  of  the  absence  of  the  bishop  who  would, 
if  present,  have  presided  according  to  the  rule.  It 
may  be  proper  to  add  here  (though  the  remark  ap- 
phes  principally  to  a  period  subsequent  to  that  at 
which  we  have  now  arrived),  that  besides  presiding 
in  the  house  when  assembled  in  convention,  various 
powers  and  duties  were  conferred  or  imposed  on  the 
presiding  bishop,  during  the  interval  between  the  ses- 
sions  of  the  general  convention.  These  were  regu- 
lated from  time  to  time  by  the  canons;  and  in  some 
instances  were  of  considerable  importance  to  the 
Church.  They  were  exercised  and  performed  with 
so  much  judgment,  prudence  and  integrity,  as  to  avoid 
the  excitement  of  jealousy  or  dissatisfaction  on  account 
of  his  increased  power  and  influence,  or  the  manner 
in  which  they  were  exerted. 

A  course  of  study  to  be  pursued  by  candidates  for 

*     Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  122,  123 ;  Memoirs  (1st  ed.),  p.  202. 
t     Journal,  p.  223. 
O* 


158  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

orders  was  established  by  the  house  of  bishops  at  the 
convention  of  1804.  It  had  been  prepared  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  house  of  deputies  (in  which  the  bishops 
concurred),  communicated  at  the  previous  convention. 
It  was  drawn  up  by  Bishop  White,  whose  original 
draft  is  now  before  me;  and  it  continues  still  to  be  the 
prescribed  course  of  study.  "This  was  doing  some- 
thing towards  the  improving  of  the  literary  reputation 
of  our  ministry,  and  an  advance  towards  the  desirable 
object  of  a  seminary  or  seminaries,  in  which  the  pre- 
paration of  candidates  may  be  the  better  secured  by 
daily  examinations  held  by  qualified  professors."* 

The  remaining  incidents  occurrino^  during-  the  in- 
terval  mentioned  above,  relate  to  his  private  life  and 
conduct,  and  not  to  the  affairs  of  the  Church  at  large. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  the  year  1793,  Philadel- 
phia was  visited  by  the  yellow  fever;  a  pestilential 
disorder  of  a  virulent  character,  and  causing  great 
mortality.  The  alarm,  and  anxiety  to  avoid  the  risk 
of  contagion,  were  the  greater  because  the  calamity 
was  novel.  A  similar  visitation  had  not  been  expe- 
rienced, except  perhaps  one,  remembered  by  a  few  of 
the  old  inhabitants,  occurring  at  a  period  when  the 
small  population  rendered  its  effects  less  striking.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  citizens  removed,  for  safety, 
from  the  city.  But  Bishop  White  determined  to  re- 
main, for  the  purpose  of  performing  religious  offices, 
and  rendering,  according  to  the  duties  of  his  sacred 

*  Journal  (Bioren's),  pp.  199,  205, 221,  227, 230—234 ;  Memoirs  (1st 
ed.),  p.  248. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  159 

station,  spiritual  aid  and  consolation  to  the  sick  and 
dying.  Many  of  his  friends  (particularly  the  Rev. 
Dr  Hutchins,  in  a  letter  which  I  remember  to  have 
heard  spoken  of  as  a  beautiful  specimen  of  friendly 
and  respectful  remonstrance)  endeavoured  to  convince 
him — as  no  doubt  they  themselves  sincerely  believed 
— that  it  was  his  duty  likewise  to  retire,  and  avoid 
exposing  to  such  hazard,  a  life  deemed  so  important 
to  the  Church  at  large.  But  the  demands  of  dut}^ 
appeared  to  the  Bishop  himself  to  be  clear  and  impe- 
rative. He  could  not  yield  to  the  solicitations  or  argu- 
ments of  his  friends,  and  persisted  in  his  determination 
to  remain.  His  family  accordingly  was  removed  into 
the  country,  at  a  distance  of  a  few  miles,  while  he 
continued  at  his  own  house  with  a  domestic  or  two. 
He  could,  and  did  occasionally  ride  out  to  see  his  fa- 
mily ;  but  his  intercourse  with  them,  on  those  occa- 
sions, w^as  constrained.  It  was  not  then  known — as 
experience  afterwards  proved — that  the  pure  atmo- 
sphere of  the  country  prevented  the  danger  of  con- 
tracting the  disease  by  communication  with  the  in- 
fected. He  therefore  only  saw  and  conversed  with 
his  family  for  a  short  time  in  the  open  air ;  approach- 
ing no  nearer  to  them  than  was  necessary  with  a  dis- 
tinct voice  to  carry  on  the  conversation.  I  recollect 
once  meeting  him  at  the  place  where  they  resided, 
and  finding  their  intercourse  thus  conducted;  though 
not  with  so  much  caution  as  they  said  it  had  previous- 
ly been;  the  disease  having  then  greatly  abated,  as  it 
was  at  the  end  of  October.  Under  these  trying  and 
alarming  circumstances,  he  constantly  and  faithfully 


160  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

visited  the  sick,  and  performed  every  suitable  religious 
office,  unappalled  by  the  danger,  or  by  the  painful 
and  revolting  scenes  to  which  he  was  a  witness.  One 
of  his  domestics — his  coachman,  who  had  from  choice 
remained  with  him — was  seized  with  the  fever,  and 
died  in  his  house.  But  through  the  whole  season,  he 
was  himself  providentially  preserved  from  sickness. 
Thus,  notwithstanding  his  high  station  and  importance 
in  the  Church,  and  the  plausible  reasons  which  might 
be  thought  to  justify  his  retirement  from  active  official 
performances,  exposing  him  to  so  great  hazard,  he 
manifested  his  conscientious  and  persevering  devotion 
to  duty ;  the  firmness  and  constancy  of  his  mind ;  and 
his  self-denial,  in  relinquishing  his  own  comfort  and 
security  in  compliance  with  higher  claims.  In  seve- 
ral succeeding  years,  in  which  the  city  was  visited  by 
a  similar  calamity,  he  continued  equally  ready  to  per- 
form every  parochial  duty,  without  being  deterred  by 
the  fear  of  danger  to  himself  But  as  it  had  been 
discovered  that  the  country  would  be  a  safe  retreat  for 
his  family,  even  though  he  should  be  attacked  by  the 
disease  and  be  with  them,  he  accompanied  them  into 
it,  and  rode  daily  to  his  house  in  the  city,  to  be  read}^ 
to  comply  with  any  call  of  religious  duty.  And  at  a 
much  later  period  of  his  life,  the  same  temper  of  mind 
and  uprightness  of  conduct  were  exhibited.  When 
the  Asiatic  cholera  broke  out  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
year  1832,  he  might  be  seen,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year 
of  his  age,  praying  and  administering  the  consolations 
of  religion  in  a  cholera  hospital,  at  the  bedside  of  the 
dying. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  161 

In  the  year  1793,  several  important  queries,  relative 
to  the  situation  of  the  churches,  and  of  religion  and 
morality  in  the  United  States,  were  communicated  to 
Dr  White  by  Francis  Corbin,  Esq.,  of  Richmond, 
with  a  request  that  he  would  give  such  answers  to 
them  as  he  could  procure.  The  queries  had  been 
transmitted  to  Mr  Corbin,  as  he  stated  in  another  let- 
ter, by  the  Bishop  of  London,  Dr  Porteus;  and  as  the 
answers  contain  much  interesting  information  on  the 
subject  of  inquiry,  the  correspondence  is  here  inserted. 

^'Richmond,  Virginia,  November  14,  1793. 
"Dear  Sir: 

"  Inclosed,  I  take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  several 
queries,  which  have  been  transmitted  to  me  by  a  very 
dignified  clergyman  in  England,  and  to  which  I  should 
be  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  such  answers  as  your 
general  knowledge  of  the  United  States  will  enable 
you  to  procure. 

''They  are  intended,  at  present,  only  to  gratify  a 
speculative  curiosity,  but  may  possibly  be  productive, 
at  a  future  day,  of  an  excellent  and  useful  treatise 
upon  the  subjects  of  religion  and  morality. 

"To  you,  sir,  who  are  employed,  and  happily  for 
America,  in  the  promotion  of  both,  I  trust,  no  apology 
is  necessary  for  the  request  now  made  by, 

"Dear  Sir,  with  great  respect  and  esteem, 
"  Your  most  obedient,  and 

most  humble  servant, 

"FRANCIS  CORBIN." 


162  memoir  of  the 

"queries. 

"1.  In  how  many  states  of  America  is  there  still  a 
provision  for  the  clergy  established  by  law  ?  and  in 
how  many  has  that  establishment  been  suppressed? 
Please  to  name  those  of  each  sort. 

"2.  In  those  states  where  the  clergy  are  maintained 
by  voluntary  subscriptions,  are  those  subscriptions 
well  paid?  and  are  they  sufficient  to  maintain  them 
and  their  families  decently,  and  to  preserve  them  from 
contempt? 

"3.  In  the  same  states,  are  the  churches  better  fre- 
quented, and  the  duties  of  morality  and  religion  more 
punctually  performed  than  they  were  before  the  sup- 
pression of  the  ecclesiastical  establishment?  or  the 
contrary  ? 

"4.  In  the  same  states,  is  there  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  situation  of  the  clergy,  and  the  influence  of 
morality  and  religion,  will  be  improved  as  the  states 
grow  more  wealthy,  more  learned  and  more  populous  ? 

"5.  In  which  states  do  religion  and  morality  flou- 
rish most?  in  those  where  there  is  a  legal  provision 
for  the  clergy,  or  in  those  where  they  are  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions? 

"6.  Are  the  churches  or  meeting  houses,  and  the 
parsonage  houses  (in  towns  and  country)  kept  in  good 
repair?" 

"Philadelphia,  February  7,  1794. 
"Dear  Sir: 

"Your  letter  came  to  hand  at  the  close  of  the  late 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  163 

malignant  fever  in  this  city;  when,  being  the  only 
clergyman  of  our  communion  of  those  remaining  in 
town  who  had  entirely  escaped  that  calamity,  I  found 
myself  so  taken  up  with  duties  of  various  sorts,  as  to 
prevent  an  immediate  attention  to  your  inquiries.  In 
consequence  of  unexpected  calls  since  occurring,  your 
letter  has  lain  by  me;  not  without  an  apprehension, 
on  my  part,  that  you  think  me  deficient  in  this  delay ; 
but  still,  with  the  recollection  that  the  impediments  of 
the  navigation  would  prevent  your  sending  to  your 
correspondent,  during  the  winter,  the  satisfaction  he 
has  desired  of  you. 

"  Although  the  information  which  I  am  now  to  give 
will  be  very  limited,  yet  I  cannot  refuse  to  furnish  you 
with  what  little  is  within  my  power :  and,  so  far  as 
your  requisitions  call  for  opinion,  you  will  consider  it 
as  given  with  diffidence. 

"  Question  1.     In  how  many  states,  &c. 

"Answer.  I  do  not  know  of  legal  establishments 
in  any  of  the  states;  unless  we  call  those  such  which 
exist  in  Connecticut,  and  in  Massachusetts  with  the 
exception  of  the  town  of  Boston.  In  the  different 
townships  of  each  of  these  states,  there  are  meeting 
houses,  the  properties  of  the  inhabitants  respectively. 
The  worship  in  these  meeting  houses  is  all  on  the  con- 
gregational plan;  merely,  if  I  am  rightly  informed, 
because  the  majority  of  the  people  are  of  that  persua- 
sion; and  not  from  any  preference  given  to  the  sys- 
tem by  law.  Every  inhabitant  of  a  township  is  liable 
to  a  tax,  levied  in  some  way  like  that  of  the  parish 


164  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

rates  in  England,  and  payable  to  the  minister  of  the 
town  meeting  house ;  unless  the  party  prove,  that  he 
has  paid  the  sum  so  demanded,  to  a  minister  of  any 
other  persuasion,  to  which  he  may  profess  to  belong. 
This  establishment,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  is  adminis- 
tered with  great  mildness ;  and  every  accommodation 
is  made,  that  can  be,  without  a  relinquishment  of  the 
principle.  A  worthy  clergyman  of  our  Church  in 
Massachusetts  informed  me,  that  a  person  who  lived 
fifty  miles  from  him,  had  constantly  been  relieved 
from  his  tax,  on  proof  that  it  was  paid  to  him  who  was 
the  nearest  episcopal  clergyman  to  the  party ;  but  who 
very  seldom  had  it  in  his  power  to  come  within  his 
church.  The  magistracy  of  that  country  have  had 
many  disputes  with  the  Baptists;  but,  I  believe,  it  has 
been  because  the  latter  have  refused,  on  the  allegation 
of  scruples  of  conscience,  to  comply  with  the  demands 
made  on  them  for  proof  that  they  paid  to  their  own 
ministers,  which,  they  said,  was  contrary  to  their  reli- 
gious freedom. 

"All  the  eastern  gentlemen  with  whom  I  have  con- 
versed on  the  subject,  seem  very  much  attached  to  this 
sole  remnant*  of  religious  establishment  in  the  United 
States;  and  none  more  so  than  those  who  are  free 
from  what  I  take  to  be  the  religious  prejudices  of  their 
ancestors;  and  they  assure  me  that  much  of  the  sub- 
mission  to  the   laws,    and   the   attachment  to  good 


*     This  remnant  no  longer  exists  ;  the  laws  on  the  subject  having  been 
repealed  in  both  the  states  mentioned. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  165 

government,  for  which  the  people  of  that  country  are 
at  this  time  singularly  exemplary,  is  owing  to  the  legal 
provision  stated. 

"  I  have  been  the  more  particular  in  mentioning  this 
establishment,  as  I  conceive  it  to  be  the  very  species  of 
legal  support  of  religion  suited  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  United  States.  It  appears  to  me,  sir,  a  right  in- 
herent to  legislative  power,  to  make  provision  for  the 
public  teaching  of  religion,  with  a  view  to  the  morals 
of  the  people.  And  I  think  that  every  such  establish- 
ment should  be  so  far  general,  as  to  embrace  the  opin- 
ions of  the  great  majority  of  the  people,  with  toleration 
of  all  others.  This  right  and  this  restriction  I  will 
illustrate  by  a  similar  right  to  endow  seminaries  of 
learning ;  although  it  would  be  an  unwarrantable 
stretch  of  power  to  oblige  those  people  who  think 
human  learning  detrimental,  to  send  their  children  to 
such  seminaries  for  instruction.  I  know  the  objections, 
however,  which  exist  against  all  public  provision  for 
religion;  and  arising  from  the  opposite  sources  of  infi- 
delity and  enthusiasm.  But  when  I  contemplate  the 
good  sense  and  the  disposition  to  peace  and  order  of 
the  people  of  this  country ;  and  wdien  I  recollect  how 
many  have  been  brought,  in  civil  matters,  from  the 
extremes  of  democracy,  by  experience  of  its  bad  effects, 
to  a  predilection  for  a  mixed  government,  as  now  estab- 
lished in  the  separate  states,  and  over  the  whole  union, 
on  the  conviction  of  their  being  the  most  congenial  to 
law  and  liberty,  I  am  induced  to  believe  that  the  day 
will  come,  though  probably  not  in  our  time,  when 
p 


166  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

there  will  be  a  general  conviction  of  the  necessity  for 
the  government,  as  such,  to  make  a  profession  of  the 
Christian  religion;  in  order  to  secure  its  moral  influ- 
ence over  the  people. 

"The  remaining  clauses  of  the  question  require  me 
to  mention,  that  the  Episcopal  Church  was  formerly 
established  in  all  the  states  southward  of  Pennsylva- 
nia and  Delaware;  but  ceased  to  be  so  in  any  of  them 
with  the  revolution.  Between  Connecticut  and  Mary- 
land, there  was  nothing  that  had  the  appearance  of 
establishment,  unless  it  were  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  four  counties  of  New  York.  And  this  was  desired 
to  be  so  by  some,  who  contended  that  the  people,  ac- 
cording to  the  law  to  this  point,  made  in  the  infancy 
of  the  province,  were  at  liberty  in  each  county  to  pre- 
sent to  the  government  a  minister  of  any  other  per- 
suasion. The  provision  which  the  Church  had  from 
this  source  was  small,  and  that  attended  with  the  dis- 
advantage of  keeping  her  in  a  continual  broil  with  the 
Presbyterians. 

"  Question  2.     In  those  states  where  the  clergy,  &c. 

"  Answer.  Subscriptions  are,  almost  universally, 
wretchedly  paid;  and  the  ministers  dependent  on 
them  are  so  ill  provided  for,  that  a  man's  residence  is 
seldom  long  in  any  place,  where  his  support  is  raised 
in  this  way.  There  is,  however,  a  middle  plan  be- 
tween this  and  a  legal  support ;  I  mean  that  of  an 
assessment  on  the  pews.  Where  a  religious  society 
are  tolerably  numerous,  and  they  adopt  this  expedient 
for  the  paying  of  their  minister,  his  situation  is  easy. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  167 

The  misfortune  is,  especially  in  these  middle  states, 
the  settlement  of  which  was  by  people  of  different 
nations  and  persuasions,  that  we  are  too  much  divided 
for  any  society  to  effect  much ;  although  in  the  cities 
we  do  pretty  well.     In  Maryland,  and  I  understand 
in  your  state,  the  freeholds  in  the  pews  which  existed 
and  were  very  reasonable  during  the  establishment 
have  become  a  great  evil  since  it  ceased ;  but  I  am 
told  that  they  are  gradually  getting  over  this  difficulty, 
by  the  people  submitting  to  assessment  on  the  pews. 
Between  my  coming  from  England  and  the  conse- 
crations of  Bishops  Madison  and  Clagget,  I  ordained 
many  gentlemen  for  these  two  states.     I  make  inqui- 
ries concerning  them  as  opportunities  offer,  and  have 
reason  to  believe  that  their  circumstances  are  improving; 
especially  where  the  responsibility  and  the  industry 
of  the  parties  have  been  instrumental  in  bringing  back 
a  considerable  proportion  of  those  who,  during  the 
destitute  condition  of  our  churches  in  and  after  the  war, 
joined  the  Methodists.     In  the  middle  and  the  eastern 
states  there  were  no  congregations  before  the  revolu- 
tion competent  to  the  maintenance  of  their  respective 
clergy,  except  those  in  Philadelphia,  New  York  and 
Boston.     You  may  easily  suppose  how  severely  the 
stopping  of  the  salaries  from  the  Society  for  Propaga- 
ting the  Gospel,  though  a  necessary  measure  on  their 
part,  was  felt  in  our  country  congregations  and  in 
those  of  the  small  towns.     The  prospects,  however, 
are  gradually  improving  :  there  was  a  time  when  not 
a  single  clergyman  of  our  church  was  left  in  this 


168  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

whole  state  beside  myself.  The  effect  of  it  on  the 
neighbouring  states  was  not  very  much  short  of  this. 
How  we  stand  at  present,  in  numbers,  you  may  learn 
from  a  list  annexed  to  the  journal  of  our  last  general 
convention  ;  and  I  trust  that  every  publication  of  that 
list  in  future  will  show  us  to  be  advancing. 

"  Question  3.  In  the  same  states,  are  the  churches 
better  frequented,  &c. 

"  Answer.  From  the  terms  of  this  question  I  sup- 
pose it  to  relate  to  the  states  where  the  establishment 
once  existed.  I  am  not  of  one  of  them  ;  but  from  infor- 
mation will  venture  to  answer  in  the  negative.  Not- 
withstanding the  misfortune  under  which  our  church 
laboured  in  the  said  states,  of  not  being  able  to  eject 
clergymen  from  their  livings  for  immoralities ;  and 
notwithstanding  many  notorious  instances  of  depravity 
which  were  the  consequence,  I  presume  that  in  gene- 
ral the  state  of  religion  and  of  morals  in  those  counties 
is  altered  for  the  worse. 

"  Question  4.     In  the  same  states  is  there,  &c. 

"  Answer.  I  am  so  sanguine  as  to  believe  that 
this  question  may  be  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
There  is  a  general  spirit  of  inquiry  in  the  people  of 
this  country  in  regard  to  civil  happiness  and  the 
means  of  securing  it.  It  must  be  confessed  that  too 
many  of  our  leading  characters  had  adoj^ted  the  sen- 
timent that  religious  principle  is  not  a  necessary 
spring  of  conduct  towards  this  object.  That  opinion 
seems  to  be  losing  ground,  and  the  faster  for  the  late 
awful  effects  of  it  in  France.     It  appears  to  me  that 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  169 

the  happiness  or  misery  of  this  country  in  time  to 
come  will  very  much  depend  on  the  degree  of  influ- 
ence of  the  same  sentiment  on  the  public  mind.  This 
again  will  be  much  affected  by  two  descriptions  of 
persons;  our  leading  political  characters,  and  the 
clergy.  The  example  of  the  former  would  give  a 
tone  to  general  manners ;  and  the  latter,  if  they  have 
an  enlightened  zeal,  may  make  a  reverence  at  least 
of  religion,  a  necessary  sacrifice  to  the  opinions  and 
the  habits  of  a  people. 

"  Question  5.     In  which  states  do  religion,  &c. 

"  Answer.  Of  the  former  description  are  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  only.  I  believe  that  a  com- 
parative view  of  manners  would  be  much  in  favour  of 
these  states ;  to  which,  however,  there  are  sundry 
circumstances  contributing,  although  I  doubt  not  the 
one  in  question  has  its  share,  I  should  remark,  thai 
so  far  as  our  clergy  are  concerned,  the  establishment 
can  affect  but  a  small  part  of  their  salaries ;  which 
therefore  depend  chiefly  on  subscriptions  or  pews  ; 
this  owing  to  our  people  being  few.  These  are,  how* 
ever,  much  increasing. 

"  Question  6.  Are  the  churches  or  meeting  houses, 
&c. 

"  Answer.  So  far  as  I  know,  this  is  the  case.  In 
regard  to  churches  and  meeting  houses  they  show 
much  of  the  influence  of  that  spirit  of  improvement 
which  pervades  this  country.  Of  glebes  or  parson* 
age  houses  there  are  not  many  in  Pennsylvania, 
though  there  are  some.     I  know  of  no  state  in  which 


170  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

they  have  materially  suffered.  There  was  great 
danger  of  their  falling  a  sacrifice  in  your  state  ;  but  I 
hope  that  the  unprincipled  project  is  despaired  of* 
It  may  be  proper  to  mention  that  besides  this  species 
of  property  there  are  others,  some  real  and  some  per- 
sonal, belonging  to  a  few  churches.  It  is  the  case  of 
the  two  united  churches  of  which  I  am  the  rector. 
And  I  expect  that  the  readiness  with  which  all  our 
governments  grant  incorporative  charters  to  religious 
bodies  will  be  followed  more  and  more  by  stable  en- 
dowments. 

"Thus,  sir,  I  have  answered  your  inquiries  to  the 
best  of  my  judgment  and  information ;  but  whether 
in  such  extent  as  to  equal  your  expectations,  or  be  of 
use  to  your  correspondent,  I  do  not  know. 

"  If  I  can  give  you  any  further  satisfaction  on  such 
points  you  will  be  pleased  to  command  me :  and  in 
the  mean  time  I  am 

"  Your  respectful  and  very  humble  servant, 
"  WILLIAM  WHITE." 

A  very  pleasing  proof  of  the  bishop's  liberal  and 
truly  Christian  temper  was  given  in  his  intercourse 
with  Dr  Priestley  during  the  period  under  examina- 
tion. That  gentleman  arrived  in  Philadelphia  from 
England  about  the  year  1795;  seeking  a  retirement 
in  this  country  in  consequence  of  well  known  diffi- 

*  But  see  Dr  Hawks's  History  of  the  Church  in  Virginia  for  an  account 
of  the  subsequent  success  of  the  project. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  171 

culties  met  with  in  his  own.  He  finally  settled  in  the 
town  of  Northumberland,  on  the  river  Susquehannah 
in  Pennsylvania ;  but  previously  spent  some  time  in 
the  city,  and  afterwards  occasionally  visited  it.  A 
considerable  intimacy  took  place  between  Bishop 
White,  and  this  learned  and  amiable  man — for  such 
he  must  be  allowed  to  have  been,  whatever  objections 
may  be  justly  made  to  his  religious  opinions  ;  and  he 
frequently  attended  public  worship  at  Christ  Church. 
Their  intimacy  appears  to  have  produced  mutual 
respect  and  cordiality  of  feeling.  A  few  letters  which 
passed  between  them  from  1797  to  1802  are  here  in- 
serted, as  evidences  of  Christian  temper  honourable  to 
both,  and  interesting  in  other  respects.  The  doctor's 
respect  for  Bishop  White's  learning  and  judgment 
was  manifested  by  the  following  incident.  The  doc- 
tor was  of  opinion  that  the  daemon  of  Socrates  was 
inspiration.  When  his  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Socrates 
and  Jesus  compared,"  was  printed  and  not  yet  pub- 
lished, he  brought  it  to  the  Bishop  ;  requesting  him 
to  peruse  it  and  to  note  any  sentiment  which  might 
be  thought  to  discredit  the  publication ;  independently 
on  any  point  concerning  which  he  knew  his  theory 
to  be  disapproved  of  by  Dr  White ;  mentioning  that 
there  was  a  passage  very  much  objected  to  by  a  friend 
of  his.  He  called  a  few  days  after,  and  his  pamphlet 
was  returned  to  him,  with  an  objection  to  a  passage 
containing  the  sentiment  above  mentioned.  He  im- 
mediately said — That  is  the  passage  in  question.  He 
cancelled  the  leaf  before  the  sale  of  the  pamphlet,  as 


172  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

may  be  seen  in  the  first  edition  of  it.  He  did  not  ap- 
pear to  have  reUnquished  the  sentiment,  but  thought 
it  was  unnecessary,  and  might  do  a  prejudice  to  his 
work.  The  letters  between  them  were  those  which 
follow  : 

"  January  18,  1797. 

"Dr  White  presents  his  respectful  compliments  to 
Dr  Priestley.  Having  mentioned  to  the  doctor  two 
instances  in  which,  among  many  others,  Mr  Volney 
has  inserted  in  notes  matter  insufficient  for  the  sup- 
port of  his  text ;  and  having  been  desired  by  the  doc- 
tor to  make  a  memorandum  of  these  two  places,  and 
to  procure  one  of  the  books  referred  to,  he  has  this 
day  attended  to  his  request. 

"  The  first  of  the  places  referred  to  is  the  latter  part 
of  the  forty-third  note  of  Mr  Volney  corresponding 
with  page  231  of  his  text.  Dr  Priestley,  in  examining 
the  paragraph  quoted  from  Eusebius,  (which  is  in 
page  56,  beginning  at  the  ninth  line  from  the  bottom 
of  the  book  herewith  sent)  will  perceive  that  Mr 
Volney  has  mistranslated  in  stating  as  the  sentiment 
of  a  majoritij  of  Egyptian  philosophers  what  Eusebius 
from  Porphyry  mentions  as  the  opinion  of  ChcBTemon 
and  others  :  which  error  has  an  unhappy  influence  on 
a  very  material  part  of  Mr  Volney's  book ;  where 
we  find  doctrines  are  laid  down  as  the  current  stream 
of  sentiment  of  a  long  succession  of  philosophers ; 
which,  after  all,  appear  to  be  no  more  than  the  theory 
of  a  comparatively  modern  sect.     If  Eusebius  has 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  173 

made  too  strong-  a  use  of  this  passage  of  Porphyry 
against  the  Egyptians,  Dr  Priestley  will  find  the  ap- 
plication accounted  for  and  contradicted  in  Cudworth's 
Intellectual  System,  b.  1,  ch.  2,  sec.  18,  in  which  the 
ancient  Egyptian  philosophy  is  vindicated  from  the 
charge  of  atheism.  In  attending  to  the  aforesaid  note 
of  Mr  Volney,  it  will  readily  occur  to  Dr  Priestley 
that  the  quotation  from  PJutarch,  as  found  in  Euse- 
bius,  is  nothing  to  the  passage ;  it  being  no  proof  that 
the  idea  of  deity  arose  from  a  personifying  of  the 
operations  of  nature,  but  quite  consistent  with  the  fact 
that  the  existence  of  a  divine  author  of  all  things  being 
understood,  his  perfections  were  considered  as  repre- 
sented by  physical  objects. 

"  The  other  place  noted  by  Dr  White  is  in  vol.  8, 
note  48,  corresponding  with  page  235,  line  7,  of  his 
text.  The  unfairness  of  making  an  assertion  so  big 
with  consequences,  and  of  putting  in  a  detached  state 
a  mere  reference  to  what,  even  in  his  own  partial 
judgment,  are  no  more  than  probable  reasons,  is  very 
evident.  Will  it  be  uncharitable  to  infer  that  Mr 
Volney  has  thus  taken  an  indirect  method  of  getting 
rid  of  a  fact  which  oversets  the  whole  tenor  of  his 
work  ?  The  fact  alluded  to  is  that  of  the  discovery 
of  the  procession  of  the  equinoxes,  but  about  a  century 
or  two  before  the  Christian  era.  Now  supposing 
astronomy  to  have  been  cultivated  by  a  succession  of 
philosophers,  not  to  say  through  the  long  tract  of 
time  alleged  by  Mr  Volney,  but  for  the  space  of 
6480  years,  the  time  in  which  the  equinoxes  would 


174  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

have  gone  through  a  quadrant  of  the  heavens,  is  it 
possible  that  they  should  have  been  inattentive  to  so 
remarkable  a  phenomenon  as  that  of  the  consequent 
change  of  the  position  of  the  stars  relatively. to  the 
sun  ?  In  the  little  compass  of  Dr  White's  reading 
he  does  not  recollect  any  historical  notices  of  astrono- 
mical facts  which  prevent  this  argument  from  being, 
to  his  mind,  an  unanswerable  objection  to  Mr  Volney's 
whole  scheme. 

"  As  Dr  Priestley  may  not  be  possessed  of  the  Eng- 
lish translation  of  Mr  Volney's  book,  Dr  White  has 
borrowed  it  for  his  use,  and  it  accompanies  this  note. 

"  Northumberland,  June  6,  1800. 
"  Dear  Sir : 

"  I  take  the  liberty  to  beg  your  acceptance  of  a 
work  which  I  have  just  printed  here  in  support 
of  our  common  principles ;  and  therefore  I  hope  it 
will  not  be  unpleasing  to  you,  though  in  a  passage  or 
two  it  may  appear  that  our  sentiments  are  not  exactly 
the  same.  Men  who  think  will  differ,  but  Christians 
will  ever  be  candid. 

"  With  the  greatest  respect, 
"  I  am,  dear  sir, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

''J.  PRIESTLEY," 

"  Northumberland,  July  7,  1801. 
''  Dear  Sir : 

"  I  hope  you  have  received  a  copy  of  a  pamphlet 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  175 

which  I  lately  took  the  liberty  to  send  you  through 
the  hands  of  Mr  Dobson,  on  the  subject  of  the  know- 
ledge of  a  future  state  among  the  ancient  Hebrews, 
and  also  a  new  interpretation  of  the  eighteenth  of 
Isaiah.  Please  to  show  it  to  Dr  Andrews,  to  whom  I 
sent  Collard.  Logis  by  Mr  Carey  in  Market  street. 

"  I  shall  always  recollect  with  much  pleasure  the 
satisfaction  I  received  from  your  society  in  my  late 
visit  to  Philadelphia,  and  from  your  discourses  from 
the  pulpit.  It  adds,  however,  to  my  regret  that  the 
devotional  services  of  your  church  are  not  such  as  all 
Christians  can  join  in.  There  might,  I  should  think, 
be  the  less  objection  to  such  an  alteration  in  your 
liturgy  as  would  be  compatible  with  this  great  object, 
as  nine  in  ten  of  your  prayers  are  already  on  that 
plan.  But,  all  circumstances  considered,  this  is  far 
too  great  an  advance  in  liberality  to  be  expected  in 
these  times.  Notwithstanding  our  difference  of  opi- 
nion, believe  me  to  be,  with  the  greatest  respect, 
"  Dear  sir, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

''J.  PRIESTLEY." 

"July  21,  1801. 
"  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  ; 

"  About  a  week  ago  I  received  your  letter  of  the 
7th  instant.  The  obliging  present  of  your  pamphlet 
had  not  then  reached  me  ;  but  the  next  morning,  on 
coming  in  from  my  house  in  the  country,  I  found  it 
lying  on  my  table.     Whilst  I  thank  you  for  your 


176  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

kind  expressions  towards  the  church  to  which  I  be- 
long, and  towards  myself,  I  beg  leave  to  mention  in 
regard  to  the  former,  that  although  satisfied  that  the 
leading  points  of  doctrine  which  she  holds  are  agree- 
able to  Scripture,  and  although  sorry  for  the  difference 
of  sentiment  which  takes  place  in  reference  to  them 
in  the  minds  of  sincere  seekers  after  the  truth,  I  con- 
template the  latter  circumstance  as  an  occasion  of 
Christian  charity. 

"  I  embrace  the  opportunity  of  giving  my  opinion, 
however  small  the  tribute  to  your  literary  reputation, 
that  your  book  is  calculated  to  do  good ;  especially 
among  those  who  have  been  influenced  to  the  oppo- 
site sentiment  by  Bishops  Warburton  and  Law.  In 
regard  to  the  former  it  has  always  appeared  to  me, 
and  you  speak  to  the  same  effect,  that  he  has  not  suf- 
ficiently adverted  to  the  circumstance  of  the  Mosaic 
laws  being  a  code  of  temporal  government,  which, 
like  other  codes  of  that  sort,  required  temporal  sanc- 
tions, the  only  ones  which  the  civil  magistrate  can 
enforce.  In  regard  to  the  book  of  Job  I  will  hazard 
the  expressing  of  a  sentiment  which  has  rested  on 
my  mind.  It  is,  that  the  introducing  of  the  doctrine  of 
a  future  state  in  the  form  of  argument,  if  pat  into  the 
mouths  of  the  friends,  would  have  been  inconsistent 
with  the  point  which  they  were  maintaining ;  viz., 
that  affliction  was  an  evidence  of  the  demerit  of  the 
sufferer  ;  and  if  put  into  the  mouth  of  Job,  wonld  have 
rather  weakened  than  promoted  the  effect  intended  by 
the  author  of  the  book  ;  which  was  to  humble  man  in 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  177 

his  own  eyes;  to  show  him  that  he  could  make  no 
claim  on  his  Creator,  and  to  induce  him  to  receive  the 
divine  benefits  as  the  fruits  of  the  mere  grace  of  the  be- 
stower.  Whatever  evidence  there  may  be  of  a  future 
state,  it  had  no  place  in  an  argument  designed  to  re- 
concile to  the  loss  of  the  good  things  of  the  world  on 
quite  other  grounds;  yet  this  hindered  not  but  that 
there  might  be  reference  incidentally  to  another  life ; 
which  accordingly  there  is,  as  appears  from  the  pas- 
sages you  have  quoted. 

'^  I  fear  that  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah  must 
remain  among  the  things  hard  to  be  understood ;  al- 
though I  acknowledge  the  ingenuity  of  your  interpre- 
tation. Mr  King's  notion  that  France  was  intended 
seems  to  me  sufficiently  overset,  if,  indeed,  for  so  fan- 
ciful an  hypothesis  any  oversetting  was  necessary,  by 
Bishop  Horsley's  remark  on  the  imperfect  knowledge 
of  geography  at  the  time.  The  bishop's  theory  held 
out  a  stumbling  block  to  me  in  the  beginning,  in  the 
necessity  he  was  under  of  making  the  word  which 
was  so  often  just  before  a  denunciation,  change  in  this 
place  into  a  mere  call  on  the  attention.  There  is  one 
difficulty  which  your  scheme  seems  to  have  in  com- 
mon with  theirs  ;  viz.,  there  not  being  in  the  prophecy 
discriminating  marks  of  a  nation  known  at  the  time 
to  the  prophet  and  his  hearers  ;  like  the  other  nations 
on  whom  woes  are  pronounced.  I  am  not  going  to 
set  up  an  interpretation  of  my  own,  but  merely  sub- 
mit to  your  consideration,  w^hether  as  the  word  '  trans- 
lated beyond'  admits  of  the  translation  '  passing  by' 
Q 


178  MEMOIR  OP  THE 

or  '  bordering  on/  the  expression  *the  land  passing  by, 
or  bordering  on  the  rivers  of  Cush,'  may  not  be  a  pa- 
raphrastic way  of  denoting  Ethiopia.  If  this  be  ad- 
missible, the  leading  sentiment  of  the  passage  will  be  a 
denunciation  of  divine  judgment  against  that  country, 
with  an  intimation  that  however  fruitlessly  Ethiopia 
as  well  as  Egypt  would  be  looked  to  for  help  against 
the  Assyrians,  the  heavenly  king  of  Judah  had  still 
his  eye  on  his  habitation,-  and  would  deliver  his  peo- 
ple in  his  own  time  and  way.  But  I  recollect  Bishop 
Horsley's  caution  on  the  subject  of  criticism,  which  I 
think  has  much  reason  in  it ;  and  therefore  I  beg  you 
to  consider  this  not  as  an  attempt  at  criticism  but  as 
conjecture. 

"  You  will,  I  am  persuaded,  excuse  the  freedom 
when  I  tell  you  that  however  satisfied  with  the  ap- 
plication of  your  texts  to  the  fact  of  a  belief  of  a  future 
state  among  the  Hebrews,  yet  had  I  been  at  your 
elbow  I  should  have  been  tempted  to  hint  some  other 
texts;  although  knowing  that  they  would  have  been  re- 
jected, as  proving,  in  your  opinion,  either  nothing  or 
too  much.  To  name  a  few  :  there  is  Jacob's  '  going 
down  to  the  grave  to  his  son  mourning ;'  although 
this  is  said  under  no  probability  that  the  son  was  bu- 
ried. There  is  also  David's  d«eclaration  concerning 
his  child — '  I  shall  go  to  him  but  he  shall  not  return 
to  me.'  That  noble  passage  too  in  Isaiah  in  which 
deceased  sovereigns  are  represented  receiving  among 
them  the  king  of  Babylon,  seems  to  me  to  imply  the 
existence  of  a  state  of  the  dead.     The  passage  is  figu- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  179 

rative  ;  but  to  make  a  figure  proper  it  seems  necessary 
that  the  thing  affirmed,  although  not  true,  might  be 
supposed  true  without  absurdity. 

"  You  will  consider  me,  sir,  not  as  saying  the 
above  in  the  way  of  disputation,  but  as  disclosing  the 
state  of  my  mind  during  the  reading  of  your  valuable 
pamphlet ;  and  with  the  same  view  I  go  on  to  men- 
tion, that  on  reading  your  History  of  the  Corruptions 
of  Christianity  about  fifteen  years  ago,  and  finding  in 
that  work  a  quotation  from  Josephus,  adduced  to  prove 
that  the  opinion  of  the  soul's  separate  existence  w^as  a 
mere  conceit  of  the  Greeks,  I  recurred  to  the  book, 
where  it  appeared  to  me  that  the  author  spoke  so 
lightly,  not  of  the  opinion  itself,  but  of  certain  circum- 
stances with  which  the  Greeks  had  connected  it.  I 
was  persuaded  of  this  by  the  consideration  not  merely 
of  the  passage  itself,  but  also  of  other  passages  of  the 
same  work.  Having  put  papers  at  the  pages  at  the 
time,  I  have  now,  on  reading  your  present  pamphlet, 
opened  the  book  and  found  those  papers  as  I  left  them. 
Accordingly  I  take  the  liberty  of  noting  the  pas- 
sages for  your  consideration ;  remarking  that  the  first 
of  them  is  quoted  in  your  pamphlet,  but  diff'erently 
from  what  I  read  in  my  edition ;  which  is  L'Es- 
trange's;  the  oldest  English  translation,  and  an  indif- 
ferent one  ;  but  not,  so  far  as  I  have  heard,  unfaithful ; 
although  I  am  not  however  prepared  to  pronounce  on 
its  being  more  correct  than  the  one  from  which  you 
transcribe.  Perhaps  you  take  from  the  original, 
which  is  not  in  my  possession,  although  I  expect  I 
can  have  access  to  it. 


180  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

"The  said  passage,  after  stating  the  hope  of  Hebrew 
martyrs,  adds ;  'In  this  confidence  they  look  on  death 
itself  as  only  the  blessed  means  of  transferring  them 
from  this  Hfe  to  a  better.'  The  same  author,  in  his 
discourse  on  the  Maccabees,  speaking  of  the  magnani- 
mous behaviour  of  the  mother  of  the  seven  children, 
says,  she  considered  them  as  '  continuing  to  live  with 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  godly  patriarchs 
in  the  mansions  of  immortal  felicity.'  And  in  his 
Antiquities,  b.  18,  ch.  2,  stating  the  opinion  of  the 
Pharisees,  he  expressly  represents  them  as  'believing 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.'  I  observe  that,  in 
your  pamphlet,  you  speak  of  Josephus  and  Philo  as 
deriving  this  doctrine  from  their  intercourse  with  the 
Greeks.  But  in  the  passage  quoted,  so  far  as  Jose- 
phus's  testimony  goes  on  matter  of  fact,  and  certainly 
it  goes  a  great  way,  it  appears  to  establish  the  doc- 
trine to  be  that  of  the  Jews  generally,  in  our  Saviour's 
time.  And  indeed  I  think  that  a  Grecian  origin 
would  have  been  more  likely  to  have  prejudiced  him 
against  it, 

"When  a  man  has  taken  one  freedom,  it  commonly 
emboldens  him  to  another.  And  I  crave  indulgence 
to  this  infirmity,  while  I  mention  to  you,  that  on  the 
appearance  in  print  of  the  excellent  lectures  previous- 
ly delivered  by  you  in  this  city,  I  could  not  suppress 
the  thought  that  the  strong  mind  of  Dr  Priestley  had 
given  evidence  of  a  bias  to  a  preconceived  opinion, 
when  it  cited  a  certain  passage  from  Justin  Martyr, 
relative  to  the  present  point :  although,  in  saying  this, 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  181 

I  am  aware  that  perhaps  all  I  am  saying  may  be  ait 
evidence  of  a  similar  bias  in  myself.  The  passage 
alluded  to  (being  in  the  only  lecture  that  treats  of  any 
matters  controverted  among  Christians),  after  speak- 
ing of  the  Millenarians,  who  are  said  to  be  pur(B  et 
ince  sententice,  although  maintaining  a  dogma  not  uni- 
versally  received,  passes  a  censure  on  the  Gnostics ; 
whom  the  author  denies  to  be  Christians  at  all.  Now 
this  censure  appears  to  me  to  rest  on  their  denial  of 
the  resurrection,  and  on  the  '  going  to  heaven  immedi- 
ately,'  only  as  put  in  opposition  to  the  resurrection, 
But  it  may  be  said,  Why  is  the  latter  mentioned,  if  not 
an  error  ?  I  answer  that  I  know  no  scriptural  ground 
of  the  expression  'going  to  heaven  immediately.* 
Neither  is  it  necessarily  connected  with  the  doctrine 
of  a  separate  state,  which  implies  something  short  of 
the  consummation  of  bliss. 

"  In  regard  to  the  opinion  which  I  entertain  on  the 
present  subject;  you  will  not  disdain  the  charity  of  the 
sentiment,  although  you  will  smile  at  the  ground  of 
it,  when  I  inform  you,  that  during  your  late  sickness 
in  this  city,  in  which  I  sincerely  sympathized,  it  was 
matter  of  concern  to  me  that  you  could  not  contem- 
plate a  state  of  bliss  otherwise  than  as  to  begin  after  a 
succession  of  ages.  You  Mall  answer  me  as  you  have 
answered  others  in  your  writings,  that  the  interval 
will  be  void  of  consciousness.  I  reply  that  the  same 
might  be  said  of  annihilation.  I  do  not  doubt  the  in^ 
iluence  on  your  mind,  of  the  expectation  of  future  hapv 
piness  under  what  appears  so  unwelcome  a  circum.- 


1S2  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

stance  to  mine ;  but  I  cannot  think  that  on  mankind 
in  general  the  expectation  would  be  so  operative  to 
virtuous  dispositions  and  habits,  as  that  of  an  inherit- 
ance to  be  enjoyed  immediately  on  dissolution. 

"  And  now,  sir,  I  am  aware  of  the  ground  which  I 
have  given  for  the  thought  of  the  hardship  that  you 
could  not  exercise  the  civility  of  sending  me  your 
pamphlet,  without  being  burthened  with  so  long  a 
letter  in  return;  and  that  on  a  subject  which  must 
have  appeared  in  every  point  of  view  to  you  before. 
In  respect  to  this  I  plead  guilty,  and  throw  myself  on 
your  charity  and  good  nature,  and  subscribe  myself, 
with  my  best  wishes  of  every  sort, 
"  Respectfully, 
"  Your  affectionate,  humble  servant, 

''WILLIAM  WHITE." 

"  Northumberland,  November  17,  ISOl. 
"Dear  Sir: 

"It  is  by  no  means  my  design  to  draw  you  into  a 
controversy,  or  even  a  correspondence ;  but  the  polite- 
ness and  candour  of  your  letter  excite  my  gratitude, 
and  require  some  acknowledgement,  which  I  have 
now  an  opportunity  of  making  without  putting  you  to 
the  expense  of  postage.  And  you  will  excuse  me  if, 
at  the  same  time,  I  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  prin- 
cipal subject  of  your  letter.  The  other  subjects  you 
touch  upon  deserve  my  attention,  and  shall  have  it. 

"  With  respect  to  the  state  of  my  mind,  in  my  last 
illness,  to  which  you  kindly  advert,  I  would  observe. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  183 

that  our  feelings  are  much  influenced  by  our  opinions; 
and  I  feel  far  more  satisfaction  in  the  idea  of  shutting 
my  eyes  on  this  world  and  opening  them  at  the  resur- 
rection, than  in  that  of  passing  into  a  state  of  which 
the  Scriptures  give  us  no  account  at  all,  but  which 
must  be  somewhere  under  ground,  where  we  cannot 
look  for  much  convenience  or  comfort,  and  where  we 
must  be  entirely  cutoff  from  the  living  world.  As  to 
the  existence  of  such  a  state,  the  silence  of  our  Saviour 
concerning  it,  in  the  interview  with  Martha  and  Mary, 
and  of  the  apostle  Paul,  when  he  was  writing  to  com- 
fort his  new  converts  on  the  death  of  their  friends, 
weighs  more  with  me,  than  any  argument  from  the 
supposed  literal  meaning  of  any  particular  passages  of 
Scripture. 

"As  to  the  figurative  representation  of  the  state  of 
the  dead  in  Isaiah,  and  also  that  of  our  Saviour  in  the 
parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  if  there  must  be 
something  of  reality  for  their  foundation,  we  must 
suppose  in  this  hades  the  righteous  and  the  wicked 
are  wdthin  the  sight  and  hearing  of  one  another ;  and 
as  a  foundation  for  the  parable  of  Jotham,  the  trees 
must  have  the  faculty  of  speech.  If  in  these  cases 
something  that  is  not  fact  must  be  supposed,  why  not 
that  of  an  anticipated  resurrection,  as  an  emblem  of 
what  will  take  place  at  a  distant  time? 

"  To  you,  I  am  aware,  that  these  objections,  as  they 
cannot  be  new  to  you,  will  have  little  weight;  but  the 
time  is  soon  coming  to  both  of  us,  when  we  shall  know 
more  of  this  subject,  and  also  of  many  others,  than  we 


184  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

do  at  present.  To  me  it  cannot  be  very  distant.  I 
have  not  yet  perfectly  recovered  what  I  lost  in  my 
fever  at  Philadelphia,  and  now  hardly  expect  ever  to 
do  it.  But  our  lives  are  always  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Great  Being  who  gave  them ;  and  I  have  great  reason 
to  be  thankful  that  mine  has  been  prolonged  to  the 
usual  term  of  nature,  and  that,  though  not  without 
salutary  checks,  it  has  been  a  happy  one. 

"  With  every  good  wish,  and  the  pleasing  hope  of  our 
meeting  in  a  state  of  greater  light  and  knowledge, 
"  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  sincerely, 

"J.  PRIESTLEY." 

"Philadelphia,  January  19,  1802. 
"  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir: 

"I  received  your  polite  and  friendly  note  of  the  17th 
of  November. 

"  It  was  my  design  to  have  sent  you,  long  ago,  the 
minutes  and  the  sermon  accompanying  this  letter;* 
but  by  some  accident,  a  package  containing  them 
was  very  long  delayed  in  New  York. 

"■  I  am  too  well  aware  of  their  contrariety  to  your 
opinions,  to  send  them  in  any  other  way  than  that  of 
acquainting  you  [with]  what  is  going  on  in  a  small 
portion  of  the  ecclesiastical  world.  There  seems  a 
particular  propriety  in  sending  the  journal,  as  it  is 
necessary  to  complete  the  lot  of  which  I  asked  your 
acceptance. 

*    Journal  of  the  General  Convention  of  1801 ;  and  the  Sermon  deliv- 
ered before  it  at  the  Consecration  of  Bishop  Moore. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  185 

"It  lately  gave  me  pain  to  hear  Dr  Priestley  men- 
tioned as  an  evidence  of  the  impropriety  of  copious 
bleeding;  it  being  understood  in  the  statement  made, 
that  great  subsequent  weakness  has  been  the  conse- 
quence. If  this  has  been  so,  I  will  still  hope  for  a 
gradual  restoration,  and  am,  in  the  mean  time, 

"  Yours,  &c. 

"W.  W." 

''Northumberland,  April  5, 1802. 
"Dear  Sir: 

"  Your  excellent  sermon  gave  me  more  pleasure 
than  you  would  probably  imagine,  as  I  sincerely  con- 
cur with  you  in  the  opinion,  that  truth  is  never  to  be 
sacrificed  to  candour,  which  can  only  consist  in  think- 
ing as  well  as  we  can  of  the  tendency  of  particular 
opinions,  or  to  Christian  charity,  which  teaches  to 
wish  well  to  all  persons,  whatever  we  may  think  of 
their  opinions.  I  agree  with  you  also,  in  thinking 
that  individual  persons  are  not  intended  by  antichrist, 
in  the  Scripture  prophecies,  but  only  powers  which, 
though  doomed  to  destruction,  may  be  exercised  by 
very  good  men,  as  many  of  the  popes,  I  doubt  not, 
were. 

"You  seem  to  intimate  that  there  may  be  unbe- 
lievers among  your  ministers.  Two  such  I  knew  in 
England,  who,  taking  it  for  granted  that,  as  I  was  com- 
monly represented,  I  was  one  too,  made  no  scruple 
of  acknowledging  themselves  such  to  me.  And  there 
are  probably  many  more  in  that  country,  as  there  are 


]  86  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

in  Catholic  countries,  where  the  emoluments  of  the 
profession  are  considerable;  but  I  am  unwilling  to 
think  there  can  be  any  such  here. 

"  I  beg  your  acceptance  of  a  small  pamphlet  which 
I  have  just  printed  here;  and  I  think  there  is  not  more 
than  a  paragraph  or  two  that  can  offend  you  in  it.  As 
my  age  and  infirmities  admonish  me  that  what  I  do  I 
must  do  quickly,  I  have  begun  to  print  my  Church 
History,  and,  if  I  live  to  finish  it,  I  shall  proceed  to  my 
Notes  on  the  Boohs  of  Scripture. 

"  With  great  esteem  I  am,  dear  sir, 
"  Yours  sincerely, 

"J.  PRIESTLEY." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1797,  the  Bishop  met 
with  a  severe  affliction  in  the  loss  of  his  son  William, 
who  died  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  his  age.  Another  of 
his  children,  a  daughter,  Ann,  had  some  years  before 
been  taken  from  him  at  an  early  age.  His  loss,  in  the 
present  instance,  was  the  more  deeply  felt,  as  this  son 
was  a  great  favourite,  and  gave  promise,  so  far  as  his 
youth  would  allow  a  judgment  to  be  formed,  of  being 
like,  in  character,  to  his  father.  The  year  closed  with 
the  more  trying  bereavement  occasioned  by  the  death 
of  his  wife,  whose  health  had  been  infirm  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  In  a  sermon  preached  on  the  last  Sun- 
day in  the  year,  he  affectingly  availed  himself  of  these 
incidents,  and  of  the  consequent  decreasing  comforts 
of  their  pastor's  life,  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  his 
flock  the  duty  of  being  taught  so  to  number  their  days, 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  187 

that  they  might  apply  their  hearts  unto  wisdom,  even 
the  wisdom  which  would  make  their  calhng  and  elec- 
tion sure. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  General  Washington,  in 
December  1799,  Dr  White  was  called  on,  as  one  of  the 
chaplains,  to  perform  the  religious  offices,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  funeral  honours  paid  by  congress  to  the 
memory  of  that  father  of  his  country.  The  service 
used  by  him  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to  this 
Memoir.* 

To  the  religious  and  benevolent  character  of  that 
eminent  man,  the  Bishop  has,  on  various  occasions, 
given  the  just  testimony  which  his  intimacy  and  fre- 
quent pastoral  connection  with  him,  and  also  instances 
in  which  he  became  the  almoner  of  his  bounty,  ena- 
bled him  to  state  with  certainty.  Doubts  have  been 
sometimes  expressed  on  the  subject  of  the  General's 
religious  principles ;  but,  it  would  seem,  without  suf- 
ficient reason.  His  uncommon  reserve  in  expressing 
his  opinions,  unless  when  circumstances  particularly 
demanded  such  an  expression,  and  which  extended  to 
other  subjects  besides  religion — ^joined  with  the  dig- 
nity of  his  deportment,  checking  an  easy  familiarity, 
and  preventing  inquiry  concerning  opinions  which  he 
did  not  appear  inclined  to  communicate — have  been 
probably  the  chief  causes  of  the  doubts  But  his  aid 
given  for  the  support  of  the  Church,  in  his  own  parish 
— the  correct  sentiments  on  religion  contained  in  seve- 

*     Appendix,  No.  V. 


188  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

ral  of  his  public  addresses — the  unimpeached  sincerity 
of  his  character,  manifested  through  life,  and  forbid- 
ding a  suspicion  that  those  sentiments  were  not  really 
entertained — and  his  attendance  on  the  public  services 
of  the  house  of  God,  furnish  satisfactory  proof  of  his 
respect  for  religion,  and  of  his  belief  in  Christianity, 
unless  opposing  evidence,  unknown  to  the  Bishop, 
may  appear.  Yet  though  the  General  attended  the 
churches  in  which  Dr  White  officiated,  whenever  he 
was  in  Philadelphia  during  the  revolutionary  war,  and 
afterwards,  while  president  of  the  United  States,  he 
never  was  a  communicant  in  them.  This  fact  does 
not  disprove  his  belief  in,  and  respect  for  Christianity. 
For  it  is  well  known  that  some,  whose  religious  sin- 
cerity could  not  reasonably  be  doubted,  have  been  led 
to  avoid  a  participation  in  that  sacred  ordinance,  from 
sincere,  though  overstrained  and  mistaken  reverence 
for  it.  Inquiries  on  this  subject  M^ere  often  addressed 
to  Bishop  AVhite;  and  copies  of  several  letters,  writ- 
ten in  answer,  remain  among  his  papers :  from  which 
some  to  the  Rev.  B.  C.  C.  Parker,  containing  the  most 
detailed  statement  of  his  knowledge  on  it  which  I 
have  seen  or  know,  and  also  some  other  interesting 
facts  relative  to  other  persons  and  subjects,  have  been 
selected,  and  are   here  inserted.*     One   to  Colonel 

*  The  Bishop's  sentiments  on  the  religious  character  of  General 
Washington,  are  also  expresses  in  the  dedication  of  a  sermon  on  Deut. 
xxxiii.,  27,  preached  and  published  in  February  1795;  and  in  another  on 
Gal.  vi.,  10,  preached  in  December  1799,  a  few  days  after  intelligence  of 
the  General's  death  was  received  in  Philadelphia.    And  to  them  may  be 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  189 

Hugh  Mercer  is  added,  together  with  an  extract  from 
one  from  that  gentleman,  to  which  it  is  a  reply. 

"  Philadelphia,  November  28,  1832. 
''Dear  Sir : 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  20th  instant, 
and  will  furnish  you  with  what  information  I  possess 
on  the  subject  of  it. 

"The  father  of  our  country,  whenever  in  this  city, 
as  well  during  the  revolutionary  war  as  in  his  Presi- 
dency, attended  divine  service  in  Christ  Church  of  this 
city ;  except  during  one  winter;  when,  being  here  for 
the  taking  of  measures  with  Congress  towards  the 
opening  of  the  next  campaign,  he  rented  a  house  near 
to  St  Peter's  Church,  then  in  parochial  union  with 
Christ  Church.  During  that  season,  he  attended  re- 
gularly at  St  Peter's.  His  behaviour  was  always 
serious  and  attentive;  but  as  your  letter  seems  to  in- 
tend an  inquiry  on  the  point  of  kneeling  during  the 
service,  I  owe  it  to  truth  to  declare,  that  I  never  saw 
him  in  the  said  attitude.  During  his  Presidency,  our 
vestry  provided  him  with  a  pev/,  ten  yards  in  front  of 
the  reading  desk.  It  was  habitually  occupied  by  him- 
self, by  Mrs  Washington,  who  was  regularly  a  com- 
municant, and  by  his  secretaries. 

"  Although  I  was  often  in  company  of  this  great 
man,  and  had  the  honour  of  dining  often  at  his  table, 

added  an  address  of  the  general  convention  of  our  Church  to  President 
Washington,  soon  after  his  first  election  to  that  high  station,  in  the  Jour- 
nal (Bioren's),  p.  100. 


190  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

I  never  heard  any  thing  from  him  that  could  manifest 
his  opinions  on  the  subject  of  reUgion.  I  knew  no 
man  who  seemed  so  carefully  to  guard  against  the 
discoursing  of  himself  or  of  his  acts,  or  of  any  thing 
pertaining  to  him :  and  it  has  occasionally  occurred  to 
me,  when  in  his  company,  that  if  a  stranger  to  his 
person  were  present,  he  would  never  have  known,  from 
any  thing  said  by  the  President,  that  he  was  conscious 
of  having  distinguished  himself  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  His  ordinary  behaviour,  although  unexcep- 
tionably  courteous,  was  not  such  as  to  encourage  ob- 
trusion on  what  might  be  in  his  mind. 

Within  a  few  days  of  the  leaving  of  the  Presidential 
chair,  our  vestry  waited  on  him  w^ith  an  address  pre- 
pared and  delivered  by  me.  In  his  answer,  he  was 
pleased  to  express  himself  gratified  by  what  he  had 
heard  from  our  pulpit;  but  there  was  nothing  that 
committed  him  relatively  to  religious  theory.  Within 
a  day  or  two  of  the  above,  there  was  another  address, 
by  many  ministers  of  different  persuasions;  being  pre- 
pared by  Dr  Green,  and  delivered  by  me.  It  has  been 
the  subject  of  opposite  statements,  owing  to  a  passage 
in  the  posthumous  works  of  Mr  Jefferson.  He  says, 
giving  Dr  Rush  for  his  author,  who  is  said  to  have 
had  it  from  Dr  Green,  that  the  said  address  was  in- 
tended to  elicit  the  opinion  of  the  President  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Christian  religion.  Dr  Green  has  denied 
this,  in  his  periodical  called  *  The  Christian  Advocate,' 
and  his  statement  is  correct.  Dr  Rush  may  have 
misunderstood  Dr  Green,  or  the   former   may  have 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  191 

been  misunderstood  by  Mr  Jefferson;  or  the  whole 
may  have  originated  with  some  individual  of  the  as- 
sembled ministers,  who  mistook  his  own  conceptions 
for  the  sense  of  the  body.  The  said  two  documents 
are  in  the  Philadelphia  newspapers  of  the  time. 

"  On  a  thanksgiving  day  appointed  by  the  President 
for  the  suppression  of  the  western  insurrection,  I 
preached  a  sermon  in  his  presence.  The  subject  was 
the  Connection  between  Religion  and  Civil  Happiness. 
It  was  misrepresented  in  one  of  our  newspapers.  This 
induced  the  publishing  of  the  sermon,  with  a  dedica- 
tion to  the  President,  pointedly  pleading  his  proclama- 
tion in  favour  of  the  connection  affirmed.  It  did  not 
appear  that  he  disallowed  the  use  made  of  his  name. 
Although,  in  my  estimation,  the  entire  separation  be- 
tween Christianity  and  government  would  be  a  relin- 
f^uishment  of  religion  in  the  abstract;  yet,  that  this 
was  the  sense  of  the  President,  is  more  than  I  can 
infer. 

"  There  do  not  occur  to  me  any  other  particulars, 
meeting  your  inquiry,  and  confined  to  my  knowledge. 
Accordingly,  I  conclude  with  writing  myself, 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"Wm  white." 

''  ANECDOTE  CONCERNING  PRESIDENT  WASHINGTON. 

"  On  the  day  before  his  leaving  of  the  Presidential 
chair  a  large  company  dined  with  him.     Among  them 


192  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

were  the  foreign  ministers  and  their  ladies,  Mr  and 
Mrs  Adams,  Mr  Jefferson,  with  other  conspicuous 
persons  of  both  sexes.  During  the  dinner  much  hi- 
larity prevailed  ;  but  on  the  removal  of  the  cloth  it 
was  put  an  end  to  by  the  President :  certainly  without 
design.  Having  filled  his  glass,  he  addressed  the 
company,  with  a  smile  on  his  countenance,  as  nearly 
as  can  be  recollected  in  the  following  terms  :  '  Ladies 
and  gentlemen,  this  is  the  last  time  I  shall  drink  your 
health  as  a  public  man.  I  do  it  with  sincerity,  and 
wishing  you  all  possible  happiness.'  There  was  an 
end  of  all  pleasantry.  He  who  gives  this  relation  ac- 
cidentally directed  his  eye  to  the  lady  of  the  British 
minister,  (Mrs  Listen)  and  tears  were  running  down 
her  cheeks. 

"  Dear  Sir : 

"  It  was  but  a  few  days  ago  that  I  addressed  to  you 
a  letter  in  answer  to  your  inquiries  concerning  the 
religious  character  of  President  Washington.  There 
has  since  occurred  to  me,  although  foreign  to  that 
purpose,  what  is  written  on  the  first  page  of  the  pre- 
sent communication.  I  never  think  of  the  incident 
without  feeling  a  lively  interest  in  it ;  and  have  often 
recited  it  in  company,  to  the  evident  satisfaction  of 
the  hearers.  Whether  it  will  be  worthy  of  the  notice 
of  Mr  Sparks  in  his  intended  work  I  leave  to  him  and 
you  to  consider,  as  also  the  form  in  which  it  shall  be 
presented,  if  at  all. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  193 

"  I  pledge  my  word  for  the  truth  of  the  anecdote, 
and  am, 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"Wm  white." 

"  Pliiladelphia,  December  21,  1832. 
"  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

''  Your  letter  of  the  11th  instant  is  come  to  hand. 
Until  the  receipt  of  it  I  did  not  know  that  there  was 
in  holy  orders  a  son  of  my  much  esteemed  brother, 
Bishop  Parker.  I  saw  you  at  the  convention,  but 
supposed  you  to  be  a  lay  deputy. 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  any  degree  of  recollection 
will  bring  to  my  mind  any  fact  which  Avould  prove 
General  Washington  to  have  been  a  believer  in  the 
Christian  revelation ;  further  than  as  may  be  hoped 
from  his  constant  attendance  on  Christian  worship,  in 
connection  with  the  natural  reserve  of  his  character. 

"  Being  engaged  in  a  correspondence  relative  to 
this  great  man,  I  will  venture  to  call  the  attention  of 
Mr  Sparks  to  an  incident  in  his  military  services 
which  I  have  not  yet  seen  noticed  in  a  manner  suffix 
ciently  honourable  to  him. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  in  the  year  1777  there  was 
in  Congress  a  party  disposed  to  give  the  command  of 
the  army  east  of  the  North  river  to  General  Charles 
Lee ;  a  project  which  could  not  have  succeeded  after  the 
shameful  capture  of  the  latter.  With  the  favourers  of 
the  scheme  I  had  very  little  acquaintance ;  but  I  con- 


194  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

versed  much  with  some  gentlemen  who,  although  m- 
capable  of  participating  in  it,  and  personal  friends  of 
General  Washington,  lamented  his  laying  of  so  much 
stress  on  the  opinions  of  General  Greene.  After  the 
defeat  of  General  Gates,  and  the  annihilation  of  our 
military  force  in  the  Carolinas,  Congress  spent  much 
time  in  endeavouring  the  choice  of  a  general  for  the 
renewal  of  hostilities  in  that'  quarter.  Not  being  able 
to  agree,  they  sent  an  order  to  General  Washington  to 
select  a  suitable  officer,  and  he  sent  General  Greene. 
The  brilliant  result  is  well  known.  It  seems  to  me 
that  this,  in  the  teeth  of  so  much  prejudice,  is  very  in- 
dicative of  the  character  of  the  commander-in-chief; 
perhaps  as  much  so  as  any  transaction  of  his  life. 

"  The  mention  of  General  Greene  suggests  to  me 
the  following  narrative.  On  reading  Marshall's  Life 
of  Washington  my  curiosity  was  excited  by  a  note  at 
page  557  of  vol.  4.  It  appears  that  when  the  general 
was  in  the  last  extremity,  from  the  want  of  money,  to 
prevent  the  abandonment  of  the  army ;  there  came  to 
his  relief  a  gentleman  who,  for  the  furnishing  of  the 
necessary  sum,  was  content  with  a  draft  on  the  finan- 
cier. Not  long  after,  in  conversation  with  my  brother- 
in-law,  the  said  officer,  I  asked  him  the  name  of  the 
gentleman.  The  answer  was — '  His  name  was  Hall. 
You  must  have  often  met  him  at  my  house.  I  wanted 
a  confidential  agent,  but  wished  him  not  to  be  a  man 
in  any  public  office.  This  was  the  case  with  Mr 
Hall ;  of  whom  I  had  always  heard  the  South  Carolina 
.gentlemen  speak,  as  a  man  of  great  integrity  and  ho- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  195 

nour.  Accordingly,  I  commissioned  him  on  this  deli- 
cate business.' 

"  Mr  Morris  followed  up  the  conversation  by  rela- 
ting as  follows.  He  said  that  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
war,  and  on  General  Greene's  coming  to  this  city  for 
a  settlement  of  his  accounts,  during  the  first  official 
conference,  the  secret  transaction  came  into  view. 
The  general,  with  a  smile  on  his  face,  but  with  his 
hand  on  his  sword,  as  if  half  in  jest  and  half  in  earn- 
est, gave  a  look  which  Mr  Morris  construed  as  say- 
ing— Why  did  you  not  trust  me  with  the  secret  ?  No 
further  notice  was  then  taken  of  the  matter,  except  by 
a  request  that  the  general  w^ould  think  seriously  of  it 
before  his  making  up  his  opinion.  The  next  morning 
on  his  appearance  at  the  office  Mr  Morris  said  to 
him — '  General,  you  were  yesterday  somewhat  hurt 
by  a  discovery  then  made.  Have  you  seriously  con- 
sidered it  ?'  The  answer  was — '  I  have ;  and  believe 
that  you  never  did  a  wiser  thing.  I  was  often  in  em- 
barrassment, not  bordering  on  ruin,  but  sufficient  to 
have  warranted  my  drawing  had  I  known  that  I 
might.' 

"  I  do  not  know  how  far  Mr  Sparks,  in  his  work, 
may  be  required  to  give  it  a  bearing  on  the  character 
of  Mr  Robert  Morris.  But  with  a  view  to  the  possi- 
bility of  this,  I  select  the  following  fact;  the  memory 
of  which  I  think  worthy  of  being  preserved,  indepen- 
dently of  its  being  evidence  of  the  credit  of  that  gentle- 
man, and  because  of  its  effect  on  our  public  affairs,  at 
perhaps  the  most  important  crisis  of  them.    In  the 


196  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

latter  end  of  the  year  1776,  Congress,  removed  to  Bal- 
timore, received  a  letter  from  General  Washington, 
then  in  Jersey,  as  were  also  the  enemy,  stating  that 
he  must  have  a  certain  specified  sum,  in  hard  money ; 
and  that  otherwise,  he  could  not  procure  intelligence, 
while  the  enemy  could  command  it.  This  subject 
rested  heavily  on  the  mind  of  Mr  Morris,  to  whom  the 
letter  had  been  sent,  and  until  the  approach  of  night, 
when,  having  closed  his  office,  and  being  on  his  way 
home,  he  met  a  gentleman  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
with  whom  he  had  long  been  in  habits  of  commercial 
business.  The  following  dialogue  ensued.  The  gen- 
tleman began  it  with- — '  Robert,  what  news?'  The 
answer  was — '  The  news  is,  that  I  am  in  the  want  of 
such  a  sum  of  hard  money  ;'  naming  the  amount  in  the 
letter ;  '  and  you  are  the  man  who  must  furnish  it ; 
and  your  security  must  be  my  note,  and  my  honour.' 
The  gentleman,  after  a  pause  of  about  a  minute,  said, 
'Robert,  thou  shalt  have  it;'  and  was  as  good  as  his 
word. 

"  Whether  any  thing  I  have  written  will  be  to  the 
purpose  of  Mr  Sparks,  I  consider  as  uncertain,  and  am, 
"Respectfully, 
"  Your  affectionate  brother, 

''Wm  white." 

EXTRACT  FROM  LETTER  OF  COLONEL  MERCER. 

"  Fredericksburg,  August  13,  1835. 
"I  have  a  desire,  my  dear  sir,  to  know  whether 
General  Washington  was  a  regular  communicant  in  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  Philadelphia,  or  whether  he  oc- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  197 

casionaUy  went  to  the  comm-union  only,  if  he  ever  did 
o,t  all.  The  whole  country  knows  that  he  was  a  reli- 
gious man,  and  served  his  God  with  humility  and  re- 
verence. No  authority  can  be  more  complete  and 
authentic  than  yours,  on  this  point,  as  he  was,  I  be- 
lieve, a  regular  attendant  on  your  ministry  in  Christ 
Church.  I  wish  the  information  merely  for  my  own 
])rivate  satisfaction,  and  for  no  public  use  whatever,  and 
shall  feel  highly  gratified  and  honoured  by  a  reply 
from  you  at  your  leisure  and  convenience." 

"  Philadelphia,  August  15,  1835. 

^'Dear  Sir: 

^  *****  * 

"  In  regard  to  the  subject  of  your  inquiry,  truth 
requires  me  to  say,  that  General  Washington  never 
received  the  communion,  in  the  churches  of  which  I 
am  parochial  minister.  Mrs  Washington  was  an  ha- 
bitual communicant. 

"Before  the  General  left  his  seat  in  Congress  to 
take  the  command  of  the  army;  afterwards,  during 
the  war,  whenever  he  was  in  this  city;  and  since, 
during  his  Presidency,  he  attended  in  Christ  Church, 
except  that  in  one  winter  during  the  war,  having 
rented  a  house  near  my  other  church  (St  Peter's),  he 
attended  there.  He  was  an  antipode  to  those  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  changing  the  places  of  their  attend- 
ance. When  he  left  the  presidency,  it  was  here 
thought,  that  of  his  many  answers  to  addresses,  the 
most  courteous  was  that  to  the  vestry  of  Christ  Church 
and  St  Peter's. 


198  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

"I  have  been  written  to  by  several  on  the  point  of 
your  inquiry;  and  have  been  obliged  to  answer  thena 
as  I  now  do  you. 

"I  am,  respectfully, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"Wm  white." 

The  folio winor  notes  from  General  Washington, 
afford  a  pleasing  evidence  of  the  benevolence  of  his 
feelings,  of  the  purity  of  his  motives  in  bestowing 
charity,  and  of  prudence  in  the  mode  of  applying  his 
bounty. 

"Philadelphia,  December  31,  1793. 
"  Dear  Sir  ; 

"  It  has  been  my  intention  ever  since  my  return  to 
the  city,  to  contribute  my  mite  towards  the  relief  of 
the  most  needy  inhabitants  of  it.  The  pressure  of 
public  business  hitherto  has  suspended,  but  not  altered 
my  resolution.  I  am  at  a  loss,  however,  for  whose 
benefit  to  apply  the  little  I  can  give,  and  in  whose 
hands  to  place  it;  whether  for  the  use  of  fatherless 
children  and  widows,  made  so  by  the  late  calamity, 
who  may  find  it  difficult,  whilst  provisions,  wood  and 
other  necessaries  are  so  dear,  to  support  themselves ; 
or  to  other  and  better  purposes,  if  any,  I  know  not ; 
and  therefore  have  taken  the  liberty  of  asking  your 
advice. 

"  I  persuade  myself  justice  will  be  done  to  my  mo- 
tive for  giving  you  this  trouble.  To  obtain  informa- 
tion, and  to  render  the  little  I  can  afford,  without  os- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  199 

tentation  or  mention  of  my  name,  are  the  sole  objects 
of  these  inquiries.  With  great  and  sincere  esteem 
and  regard,  I  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

'^GEORGE  WASHINGTON* 
"To  William  White,  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania." 

"Philadelphia,  January  1,  1794. 
"  Dear  Sir : 

"  I  have  been  favoured  with  two  notes  from  you  of 
this  date;  the  last  in  time  to  prevent  the  mistake 
which  the  first  would  have  led  me  into. 

"The  mode  which  you  have  suggested  for  impart- 
ing the  small  pittance  my  resources  will  enable  me  to 
contribute  towards  the  comfort  of  the  needy  in  this 
city,  appears  to  be  a  very  eligible  one ;  and  as  you 
have  been  so  obliging  as  to  offer  to  place  it  in  proper 
hands  for  this  purpose,  I  take  the  liberty  of  enclos- 
ing two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

"I  have  no  desire  that  my  name  should  be  men- 
tioned. If  so  small  a  sum  can  effect  any  good  pur- 
pose, my  object  will  be  answered,  and  all  my  wishes, 
respecting  it,  gratified. 

"I  offer  you  the  compliments  of  the  season — the 
happy  return  of  many  of  them — and  the  sincere  re- 
spect and  regard  of, 

"  Dear  sir, 
"  Your  aff'ectionate,  humble  servant, 

"GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

"  The  Right  Reverend  Dr  White." 

*     Sparks's  Writings  of  Washington,  vol.  10,  p.  389 


200  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

''  Thursday  Morning,  January  2. 
"  The  President  presents  his  respectful  regards  to 
Dr  White.  The  benefit  to  be  derived,  and  not  the 
merit  of  bestowing  it,  is  the  only  motive'  which  has 
governed,  in  the  case  which  has  been  the  subject  of 
this  correspondence;  of  course,  to  know  from  whence 
it  flowed,  ought  not  to  be  an  object  of  inquiry,  and  as 
to  conjectures,  they  are  very  immaterial.  However, 
as  Dr  White  has  a  delicacy  on  the  subject,  the  Presi- 
dent did  not  intend,  nor  would  by  any  means  wound 
it;  he  therefore  leaves  it  to  him  (knowing  the  motives) 
to  accompany  the  contribution  with  such  explanations 
as  he  shall  think  fit." 

The  congregations  under  the  Bishop's  parochial 
charge  became  so  much  enlarged,  that  it  was  thought 
expedient,  about  the  year  1806,  to  erect  a  new  church 
for  their  accommodation.  The  work  was  accordingly 
undertaken;  and  the  building  was  consecrated  on  the 
1st  of  May  1809,  by  the  name  of  St  James's  Church  : 
which  was  placed  in  parochial  union  under  him,  as 
the  rector,  with  the  united  churches  of  Christ  Church 
and  St  Peter's.  This  was  the  first  new  Episcopal 
church  erected  in  the  city  or  liberties  subsequent  to 
the  revolution :  but  he  had  the  satisfaction,  before  his 
decease,  of  beholding  eight  other  churches  established 
within  those  bounds;  and,  with  one  exception,  that  of 
St  Matthew's,  Francisville,  flourishing.  On  com- 
mencing the  building  of  St  James's,  he  delivered  an 
address  to  the  vestry,  on  the  most  advisable  manner  of 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  201 

conducting  such  undertaking.  The  sentiments  ex- 
pressed are  thought  so  prudent  and  judicious,  as  to 
merit  preservation  and  attention ;  and  the  address  is 
therefore  inserted  in  the  Appendix.* 

The  Church,  in  the  mean  time,  advanced  very 
slowly,  in  other  parts  of  tiie  diocese.  But  early  in  the 
year  1812,  the  Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Chris- 
tianity in  Pennsylvania  was  formed.  The  Bishop 
was  made,  ex  officio,  its  president;  and  it  received  the 
approbation  and  sanction  of  the  state  convention,  which 
sat  in  May  1812,  a  few  weeks  after  the  formation  of 
the  society.  It  did  not  originate  from  the  suggestion 
of  the  Bishop  himself,  but  from  that  of  some  of  his 
presbyters.  But  he  cordially  approved  and  aided  in 
its  organization  and  subsequent  proceedings.  He  felt 
no  jealousy,  and  showed  no  backwardness  in  support- 
ing and  promoting  plans  for  extending  and  improving 
the  Church,  because  they  were  formed  by  others, 
without  his  previous  suggestion.  In  either  case,  he 
embarked  with  equal  readiness  and  zeal  in  the  execu- 
tion of  them.  The  society,  by  employing  and  sup- 
porting missionaries  in  different  parts  of  the  diocese, 
has  been,  and  continues,  of  signal  benefit  in  enlarging 
the  Church  in  Pennsylvania.  Many  churches,  now 
flourishing,  owe  their  existence  to  its  care. 

The  number  of  clergy  also  had  increased,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so.  All  the  old  parishes  were  supplied. 
Many  new  ones  were  organized,  and  churches  erected. 

*     Appendix  No.  VI. 


202  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

The  Church  in  Pennsylvania  was  improved  and  ex- 
tended more  rapidly.  Its  progress  continued,  M^ithout 
any  material  check,  to  such  an  extent,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  convention  next  before  the  decease  of  the  Bishop 
— that  of  1836' — the  number  of  the  clergy  belonging 
to  the  diocese  was  eighty-six,  and  the  number  of  con- 
gregations ninety-one.  The  number  of  clergy  in  the 
whole  Church  in  the  United  States,  reported  to  the 
general  convention  of  1835,  was  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-one. 

Bishop  White's  attention  was  not  confined  to  his 
own  diocese.  He  employed  means  for  extending  the 
benefits  of  the  Church  to  the  western  states  and  terri- 
tories of  our  union.  The  first  measures  taken  for  the 
establishment  of  the  Church  in  Ohio,  were  commenced 
by  him  and  a  few  clerical  associates  in  Philadelphia. 
From  conviction  of  the  duty  of  extending  some  aid  to 
the  members  of  the  Episcopal  communion  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  state,  they  instituted  for  that  purpose,  in 
1816,  a  society  under  the  name  of  "The  Episcopal 
Missionary  Society  of  Philadelphia."  A  clergyman 
was  sent  to  take  a  journey  into  various  parts  of  Ohio 
(who  visited  also  parts  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee), 
to  preach,  and  to  examine  the  state  of  it  in  reference 
to  religion,  and  the  prospect  of  introducing  there  the 
institutions  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  There  was,  at 
that  time,  not  one  Episcopal  clergyman  in  the  state. 
The  Bishop  felt  a  deep  interest  in  this  plan.  At  several 
times  afterwards,  clergymen  were  sent  into  Ohio,  and 
supported  by  the  society.     They  were  usefully  em- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  203 

ployed  111  organizing  congregations.  These  efforts 
were  continued  until  the  establishment  of  the  Domestic 
and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  by  the  general  conven- 
tion; to  whose  care  the  matter  was  then  transferred, 
and  the  operations  of  the  former  society  ceased. 
The  success  which  has  attended  the  endeavours  thus 
commenced,  is  well  known.  The  Church  in  Ohio 
was  in  a  few  years  organized  as  a  diocese,  with  a  resi- 
dent bishop;  and  it  is  now  prosperous,  and  constantly 
improving.  The  same  society,  during  its  existence, 
extended  its  beneficence  towards  the  supply  of  cate- 
chists,  in  aid  of  the  clergyman  who  had  undertaken 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Episcopalian  portion  of  the 
colonists  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  The  zeal  of 
its  members  also  moved  them  to  digest  a  scheme  of  a 
missionary  society,  to  extend  over  the  American  union. 
This  design  was  submitted  to,  and  approved  by  the 
state  convention  of  1820,  as  a  step  towards  submitting 
it  to  the  general  convention  to  be  soon  afterwards  as- 
sembled: by  which  the  General  Domestic  and  Fo- 
reign Missionary  Society  was  first  instituted.^ 

Even  at  an  earlier  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  his  attention  and  exertions  were  directed  to 
the  advancement  of  the  Church  in  the  western  parts 
of  the  United  States.  The  measures  for  this  purpose 
were  to  be  taken  by  him  in  conjunction  with  the 
Bishop  of  Virginia,  Dr  Madison,  in  pursuance  of  reso- 

*  Journal  of  Pennsylvania  of  1817,  p.  8 ;  1818,  pp.  8,  9 ;  1820,  pp. 
11.  12,  21 ;  1821,  p.  10;  Journal  of  the  General  Convention  of  1817,  p. 
26. 


204  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

lutions  of  the  general  convention.  Very  early  after 
the  complete  organization  of  the  Church,  that  body 
was  desirous  of  providing  for  the  west  the  benefits  of 
episcopal  superintendence:  and  several  plans  for  the 
purpose  were  adopted  at  different  periods.  But  so 
great  difficulties  occurred,  that  neither  of  them  could 
be  carried  into  execution.  Those  difficulties  arose 
from  the  death  of  Bishop  Madison ;  from  the  difficulty 
of  procuring  a  suitable  person  for  the  station ;  and 
from  the  impracticability  of  providing  means  for  his 
support.  The  design  was,  however,  still  kept  in  vipw, 
with  a  determination  of  effecting  it  whenever  an  op- 
portunity could  be  obtained.  It  was  at  last  accom- 
plished in  a  different  mode  from  either  of  those  pre- 
viously proposed,  when  a  bishop  was  consecrated  for 
the  diocese  of  Ohio;  which  rendered  any  further 
proceedings  on  the  other  plans  unnecessary. 

The  first  associations  in  the  Church  for  religious 
objects,  formed  with  the  authority  or  approbation  of 
the  Church,  were,  as  we  have  seen,  diocesan.  But 
the  Church  at  large,  throughout  the  United  States, 
was  now  rapidly  improving ;  and  becoming  more  able, 
in  consequence  of  the  increase  of  her  clergy,  and  the 
power  of  obtaining  more  ample  means  from  the  wealth 
and  liberality  of  her  laity,  to  form  and  execute  en- 
larged plans  of  usefulness.  From  these  circumstances 
resulted  the  establishment  of  two  very  important  in- 
stitutions, by  the  authority  of  the  general  convention  : 
the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and 
the  General  Theological  Seminary. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  205 

It  IS  not  consistent  with  the  design  of  this  memoir 
to  enter  into  any  details  of  the  history  and  benefits  of 
these  valuable  institutions.  Neither  of  them  derived 
its  origin  from  the  proposal  of  Bishop  White  in  the 
first  instance,  except  so  far  as  the  former  was  planned^ 
as  already  mentioned,  by  the  Episcopal  Missionary 
Society  of  Philadelphia.  But  he  took  an  active  and 
zealous  part  in  the  measures  and  consultations  for 
establishing  and  organizing  both.  As  the  missionary 
society,  first  instituted  in  1820,  was  located  in  Phila^ 
delphia,  and  he  was  ex  officio  president  of  it,  he  ren- 
dered a  faithful  and  unwearied  attention  to  the  pro- 
ceedings, not  only  of  the  society  at  large,  but  of  the 
committee  charged  with  the  active  management  of  its 
affairs;  and  he  continued  in  the  same  course  until 
after  the  general  convention  of  1835,  at  which  the 
constitution  of  the  society  was  altered :  the  church 
herself  being  declared  and  constituted  the  society,  and 
the  management  of  its  affairs  entrusted  to  a  committee 
for  domestic  missions  and  a  committee  for  foreign 
missions;  both  of  which  -were  soon  located  in  Nev/ 
York. 

The  first  motion  in  convention  for  the  institution  of 
a  theological  seminary  was  made  by  the  deputies  from 
South  Carolina  in  the  general  convention  of  1814: 
though  it  appears  that  Bishop  Hobart  had  previously 
formed  the  plan  of  an  institution  for  the  instruction  of 
candidates  for  orders,  to  be  established  at  Springfield 
in  New  Jersey.  The  motion  was  then  negatived  by 
the  house  of  deputies,  and  the  subject  was  no  farther 
s* 


"206  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

acted  on  by  that  convention,  than  by  directing  inqui- 
ries to  be  made  in  the  several  dioceses  respecting  the 
opinions  of  the  clergy  and  lay  members  of  the  church 
on  the  propriety  and  practicability  of  the  plan.  But 
at  the  succeeding  convention  in  1817  it  was  resolved 
to  establish  a  general  seminary,  to  be  located  in  New 
York ;  and  a  committee,  of  which  Bishop  White  was 
chairman,  was  appointed  to  carry  it  into  execution ; 
and  its  operations  were  commenced  not  long  after- 
wards. 

On  the  question  of  the  expediency  of  establishing  a 
genera]  seminary,  the  bishop  differed  from  the  ma- 
jority of  his  brethren.  He  preferred  another  plan — 
that  of  instituting  diocesan  seminaries  in  as  many  of 
the  dioceses  as  were  desirous  of  having  them,  and 
were  competent  to  provide  for  their  support.  His 
reasons  for  this  preference  have  been  stated  by  him  at 
large  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  Church  (2d  edit.  p.  237, 
242).  Notwithstanding  that  preference,  however, 
when  it  was  resolved  by  the  convention  to  establish  a 
general  institution,  he  gave  it  his  cordial  aid  and  sup- 
port ;  under  the  impression  that  it  ought  to  have  a  full 
and  fair  trial.  He  was  a  party  in  all  the  measures 
for  establishing  and  organizing  it.  When,  in  conse- 
quence of  difficulties  met  with,  as  might  be  expected 
in  the  early  periods  of  so  extensive  an  institution, 
great  doubts  were  entertained  of  its  success,  and  the 
expediency  of  diocesan  seminaries  became  again  a 
subject  of  discussion  during  the  convention  of  1820, 
he  did  not  persevere  in  pressing  his  own  opinions  on 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  207 

the  subject,  though  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
changed.  In  a  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart,  dated  the  17th 
of  February  1821,  he  remarks—"  You  seem  to  think 
that  if  my  preference  of  diocesan  schools,  and  objec- 
tions to  the  other,  had  been  urged  at  the  last  conven- 
tion, they  would  have  had  weight.  What  reason 
have  I  to  suppose  this  ?  My  sentiments  were  deli- 
vered at  the  convention  of  1817,  backed  by  the  sanc- 
tion of  our  state  convention.  They  were  again  pre- 
sented in  my  Memoirs,  which  had  been  read  by  many 
of  the  convention  of  last  May.  It  has  always  been 
my  practice  not  to  be  repeatedly  obtruding  my  pecu- 
liar views  of  a  subject  on  any  body  of  men,  when  their 
decided  sense  has  been  declared  against  me— the 
matter  not  involving  sacrifice  of  principle."  He  after- 
wards, from  the  period  at  which  the  seminary  was 
permanently  located  at  New  York  in  1821,  constantly 
attended  every  stated  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees, 
which  assembled  in  that  city ;  was  present  at  every 
annual  examination  and  commencement ;  and  on  five 
occasions  delivered,  at  the  request  of  the  faculty,  the 
address  to  the  students.  This  constant  and  active  in- 
terest in  its  concerns  was  continued  until  the  year 
1830.  At  the  commencement  in  July  of  that  year  he 
informed  the  faculty  that  on  account  of  his  advanced 
age  (being  then  in  his  eighty-third  year)  it  would  be 
inconvenient  for  him  to  take  so  long  a  journey  to  at- 
tend the  examinations  and  other  proceedings  in  New 
York  relative  to  the  seminary. 

At  the  period  of  his  last  attendance  the  seminary 


208  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

had  attained  a  secure  and  prosperous  condition ;  and 
had  communicated  their  theological  education  to  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  clergy  in  the  several  dio- 
ceses, who  were  generally  acknowledged  to  be  among 
the  most  active  and  useful  of  the  ministers  of  the 
church.  He  remarked  this  prosperity,  and  rejoiced 
in  it.  His  whole  course,  indeed,  in  relation  to  the  in- 
stitution farther  proves  and  illustrates  a  trait  of  his 
character  before  mentioned — that  without  the  least 
jealousy  or  indifference  he  contributed  his  best  aid  to 
the  successful  prosecution  of  any  measures  for  promo- 
ting the  welfare  of  the  church,  though  they  origina- 
ted with  others,  or  were  different  from  those  which  he 
had  himself  preferred  and  advocated.  His  principles 
and  motives  on  this  subject  may  be  given,  as  stated  in 
his  own  language,  hy  a  few  extracts  from  his  addresses 
to  the  trustees,  faculty  and  students  of  the  seminary. 
In  that  delivered  in  1822  (which  was  the  first),  after 
mentioning  the  invitation  to  him  to  be  present  on  the 
occasion,  he  proceeds :  ''I  was  the  more  easily  in- 
duced to  make  a  journey  for  the  purpose,  on  account 
of  its  being  known  to  many,  that  while  we  wavered 
between  the  comparative  merits  of  two  different  plans, 
I  was  in  favour  of  that  which  preferred  to  a  general 
school  the  countenancing  of  local  schools  in  whatever 
dioceses  it  might  be  thought  expedient  to  found  them. 
My  principal  reason  was  the  apprehension  entertained 
that  by  multiplying  the  subjects  of  discussion  to  be 
brought  before  our  general  conventions,  extraneous  to 
the  tie  binding  us  together  in  the  absolutely  necessary 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  209 

provisions  of  our  ecclesiastical  system,  the  danger  of 
future  collisions  of  views  and  of  opinions  would  be 
proportionally  increased.  The  contrary  scheme  having 
obtained  the  stamp  of  the  general  sanction  of  the 
church,  the  opposing  suggestion  should  have  no  other 
effect  than  to  induce  the  greater  caution  against  the 
spirit  of  disunion,  and  to  dispose  us  the  more  to  look 
up  to  God  for  the  continuance  of  that  tendency  to 
conciliation,  which,  under  the  influence  of  his  grace, 
has  hitherto  blessed  our  counsels. 

"  Of  so  happy  an  issue  the  prospect  is  the  brighter 
in  consequence  of  the  unforeseen  alterations  of  the 
constitution  of  the  seminary,  by  the  convention  wdiich 
assembled  in  the  last  autumn  ;  and  especially  by  its 
being  provided  that  the  weight  of  influence  of  every 
section  of  the  union  shall  be  proportioned  to  the  num- 
ber of  clergymen  therein,  and  to  the  extent  of  its  con- 
tributions to  the  fund.  For  as  the  general  seminary 
was  established,  and  continues,  with  the  allowance  of 
locally  constituted  schools,  it  appeared  to  me  that 
there  would  be  essential  injury  to  the  former  from  in- 
difference in  some  departments,  and  from  rivalship, 
or  perhaps  hostility,  in  others ;  for  even  the  latter 
ought  to  be  supposed  the  possible  result  of  the  infir- 
mity of  human  nature,  acted  on  by  local  jealousies,  if 
not  by  a  lurking  desire  of  making  inroads  on  our  ec- 
clesiastical institutions. ' ' 

"  Another  feature  of  the  ameliorated  constitution, 
tending  to  reconcile  to  the  preference  obtained  by  it 
is  the  opening  left  for  future  branches  of  the  institu- 


210  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tion.  For  although,  in  the  opinion  of  the  present 
speaker,  it  is  inexpedient  to  extend  this  provision 
further  than  in  the  instance  sanctioned*  by  the  con- 
ditions of  the  late  compact,  yet  there  will  occur  many 
cases  in  which,  on  account  of  expense  and  severance 
from  family,  it  will  be  a  reasonable  accommodation  to 
young  men  to  have  opportunities  near  to  their  respec- 
tive homes ;  and,  perhaps,  the  best  expedient  to  this 
eifect  would  be  individual  professorships  in  different 
places,  with  a  view  to  the  completing  of  education  in 
the  general  seminary.  When  there  shall  be  means 
competent  to  what  is  suggested,  a  beneficial  effect 
will  be  the  lessening  of  inducements  to  theological 
instruction  under  clergymen  designated  by  private 
partiality,  who  may  not  always  be  equal  to  the  trust. 
That  the  proposed  enlargement  of  the  plan  on  the 
principles  provided  by  the  constitution  will  tend  to 
the  preventing  and  the  removing  of  local  jealousies 
must  be  obvious." 

In  his  fifth  address,  delivered  in  1829,  he  remarks, 
at  its  commencement :  "On  this  eighth  anniversary 
of  your  being  assembled  your  president  has  the  honour 
of  taking  his  seat  among  you  the  eighth  time ;  having 
on  every  preceding  occasion  anticipated  that  in  future 
his  non-attendance  would  be  held  excusable  on  ac- 
count of  his  advanced  age.  That  he  has  still  yielded 
to  solicitations  to  be  again  present  at  your  delibera- 
tions, is  perhaps  partly  owing  to  the  circumstance 

*  Alluding-  to  a  branch  school  established,  for  some  years,  at  Geneva, 
in  New  York. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  211 

that  at  the  period  of  the  organization  of  the  institution, 
having  thought  with  the  few  who  favoured  the  en- 
couragement of  the  estabUshment  of  as  many  semina- 
ries as  there  may  be  dioceses  competent  to  the  found- 
ing and  the  supporting  of  them,  and  having  yielded 
to  the  then  almost  universal  opinion  in  favour  of  a 
general  seminary,  with  the  pledge  of  his  zealous  en- 
deavours towards  the  promoting  of  its  success,  he  has 
thought  it  the  more  incumbent  on  him  to  avoid  what- 
ever may  be  considered  as  a  lessening  of  the  interest 
taken  by  him  in  the  concerns  of  the  institution." 

When  General  La  Fayette  visited  the  United  States 
in  1824,  Bishop  White  was  found  by  him  to  be  one 
of  the  few  survivors  of  those  with  whom  he  had 
formed  an  acquaintance  during  the  war  of  the  revo- 
lution. The  recollection  of  their  intercourse  at  that 
period,  and  the  bishop's  connection  with  many  public 
bodies  who  testified  their  respect  for  the  general  by 
calls  and  addresses,  brought  them  very  frequently 
together ;  w^hich  gave  the  most  full  opportunities  of 
observing  the  general's  feelings  and  deportment.  In 
a  letter  to  his  friend  Bishop  Hobart,  then  in  Europe, 
Dr  White  gives  the  following  statement  on  the  sub- 
ject, very  honourable  to  La  Fayette.  The  letter  is 
dated  the  14th  of  October  1824.  ''There  will  doubt- 
less appear  in  the  English  papers  the  accounts  of  the 
reception  of  General  La  Fayette.  On  no  occasion 
whatever  have  I  witnessed  an  enthusiasm  so  univer- 
sally extended.  My  relations  to  many  religious,  lite- 
rary and  charitable  institutions,  and,  added  to  them,  a 


212  MEMOTR  OF  THE 

deoree  of  acquaintance  with  him  nearly  half  a  century 
ago,  have  thrown  me  in  the  way  of  seeing  much  of  him 
during  his  late  visit  to  our  city ;  and  I  must  do  him 
the  justice  to  testify  that  he  sustained  the  honours 
showered  on  him  with  singular  moderation  and  mo- 
desty."' 

After  La  Fayette's  death  an  eulogium  was  pubhcly 
delivered  in  Philadelphia  by  Peter  S.  Duponceau, 
Esquire,  and  was  preceded  by  religious  services  per- 
formed by  Bishop  White.*  On  the  succeeding  day 
the  following  notes  passed  between  the  bishop  and 
Mr  Duponceau,  relating  a  fact  deemed  by  both  hon- 
ourable to  the  general's  character. 

''July  22,  1534. 
'*  Dear  Sir  : 

"  At  our  parting  yesterday,  I  referred  to  an  incident 
respecting  General  La  Fayette,  which  seemed  not  to 
have  come  to  your  knowledge,  or  to  have  escaped  your 
recollection. 

"  There  is  at  this  moment,  under  my  eye,  the  Jour- 
nal of  Congress  of  Monday,  March  24,  1783,  in  which 
it  is  recorded  that  there  was  laid  before  them  a  letter 
of  February  3d,  from  the  Marquis  De  La  Fayette, 
announcing  a  general  peace,  and  a  copy  of  orders 
given  by  the  Count  D'Estaing,  vice-admiral  of  France, 
to  the  Chevalier  Du  Quesne,  commander  of  the  cor- 
vette '  Triumph,'  despatched  from  Cadiz  the  6th  of 
February  last,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  stop  to  all 
hostilities  at  sea.     The  journal  goes  on  to  record  a 

*  They  are  in  the  Appendi.x,  No.  VII. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  213 

resolve  of  Congress  directing  the  agent  of -marine,  to 
recall  all  armed  vessels  cruising  under  commissions 
from  the  United  States.  It  was  well  known  at  the 
time,  that  the  above  despatch  was  of  the  procuring  of 
the  marquis. 

"  The  incident  has  always  appeared  to  me  evidence, 
not  only  of  his  Americanism,  but  of  his  humanity. 
For  who  can  tell  how  many  lives,  and  how  much  pro- 
perty were  saved  by  so  timely  a  measure  ? 

"At  the  time  of  General  La  Fayette's  last  visit  to 
this  country,  when  there  were  so  many  praises  of  him 
in  our  papers,  I  wondered  that  nothing  was  said  of 
the  meritorious  act  now  presented.  Accordingly,  I 
drew  up  something  to  the  purpose,  and  caused  it  to 
be  printed  in  one  of  the  papers — I  think  Mr  Poulson's. 

"  Perhaps  the  information  now  given  is  needless ; 
but  it  has  arisen  out  of  the  circumstance  stated  in  the 
beo^inninff. 

"  I  am,  respectfully, 

"Your  humble  servant, 

"Wm  white." 

"Philadelphia,  July  22,  1834. 
"Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  : 

"  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  the  letter  with 
which  you  have  honoured  me  this  morning.  It  has 
brought  fresh  to  my  recollection  facts  which  were 
well  known  to  me  at  the  time,  since  I  was  then  em- 
ployed in  the  department  of  foreign  affairs.  I  well 
remember,  now,  the  news  coming  to  the  department 

T 


214  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

at  the  time  you  mention,  that  is,  in  the  latter  part  of 
March,  though  peace  was  not  proclaimed  until  the 
nth  of  April,  on  the  receipt  of  an  official  letter  from 
Dr  Franklin,  conveying  the  same  intelligence.  How 
the  fact  did  not  occur  to  my  memory,  in  preparing 
the  hasty  eulogium  of  La  Fayette  which  I  delivered 
yesterday,  I  can  only  account  for  by  my  desire  of 
making  as  short  a  narrative  as  possible,  and  condens- 
ing my  matter  to  the  utmost.  I  acknowledge,  with 
you,  that  the  circumstance  should  have  been  men- 
tioned; you  have  presented  it  in  a  point  of  view  that 
had  never  struck  me ;  and  yet  which  is  very  impor- 
tant ;  for  nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  many 
valuable  lives  were  saved  by  the  timely  information 
received  from  General  La  Fayette.  It  is  not  astonish- 
ing that  this  fact  should  have  remained  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  your  mind,  constantly  employed  upon 
religion  and  its  cognate  subjects,  philanthropy  and 
humanity. 

"  That  you  may  live  long  to  diffuse  those  sentiments 
among  mankind,  and  to  improve  us  by  your  precepts 
and  your  example,  is  the  constant  wish  of  him  who 
has  the  honour  to  be, 

"With  the  truest  respect  and  veneration, 
"  Right  reverend  and  dear  sir, 
"Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"PETER  S.  DU  PONCEAU.'' 

Notwithstanding  the  Bishop's  advanced  age,  being 
in  his  seventy-seventh  year,  he  undertook  a  long  jour- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  215 

ney,  in  October  1824,  to  visit  the  parishes  in  the  west- 
ern parts  of  his  diocese,  and  others  in  the  intermediate 
counties.     He  expected  to  consecrate  four  churches 
west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  one  at  Lewis- 
town  on  the  Juniata ;  and  to  hold  confirmations  in 
them  and  others.     He  reached  Lewistown,  and  con- 
secrated the  church  there;  but  on  the  next  day,  at 
the  distance  of  a  mile  from  that  place,  his  progress 
was  prevented  by  a  dangerous  accident.     The  horse 
taking  fright  ran;  the  gentleman  driving  was  thrown 
out,  and  lost  the  reins:  the  Bishop,  who  remained  in 
the  gig,  recovered  them  by  the  aid  of  the  whip,  and 
nearly  checked  the  horse ;  but  the  animal  was  again 
frigrhtened,  and  could  not  be  restrained.     Within  a 
short  distance,  the  Bishop  was  thrown  out;  which 
caused  a  simple  fracture  of  his  right  wrist,  and  several 
lacerations  of  his  face.     Owing  to  valuable  medical 
assistance,  gratuitously  rendered  to  him  ;  to  the  sym- 
pathy and  good  offices  of  many  estimable  inhabitants 
of  Lewistown;  to  the  important  attentions  of  his  fellow 
traveller,  the  Rev.  Mr  Kemper,  and  to  the  care  of  two 
of  the  members  of  his  own  family,  who  hastened  to 
him,  he  was  enabled,  through  the  good  providence  of 
God,  to  reach  home  on  the  fifteenth  day  from  the  fall. 
He  was  detained  for  only  four  Sundays  afterwards 
from  the  pulpit.     The  ease  and  speed  with  which  he 
recovered,  were  unexpected  by  his  attending  physi- 
cians, who  thought  they  manifested  an  uncommon 
vigour  of  constitution,  at  so  advanced  an  age.     On  the 
30th  of  May  following,  he  again  set  out  on  a  journey 


216  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

to  the  western  counties,  with  the  same  views ;  and  ex- 
tended it,  at  the  request  of  Bishop  Moore,  as  far  as 
Wheehng,  in  Virginia;  punctually  fulfiUing  all  his 
engagements.  He  returned  in  health  and  safety,  after 
a  journey  of  about  eight  hundred  and  thirty  miles,  on 
the  10th  of  July.  In  the  autumn  of  the  next  year 
(1826),  he  took  another  long  journey  on  official  duties, 
into  the  Beech  Woods,  in  the  north  eastern  counties 
of  the  state ;  the  distance  travelled  being  about  four 
hundred  miles.*  After  an  assistant  bishop  was  con- 
secrated, in  1827,  the  care  of  the  remoter  churches 
was  entrusted  to  him ;  Dr  White  confining  his  epis- 
copal duties  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood. 

Until  a  very  late  period  of  his  life,  Bishop  White 
met  with  no  painful  incidents  in  the  government  of 
his  diocese.  So  great  and  universal  was  the  respect 
felt  for  his  character,  and  the  persuasion  of  his  sincere 
and  disinterested  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  Church, 
and  so  warm  was  the  affection  entertained  for  himself 
personally,  both  by  the  clergy  and  laity,  that  no  desire 
to  oppose  his  wishes,  and  no  dissatisfaction  with  his 
conduct  towards  them,  had  been  manifested,  nor  pro- 
bably felt.  But  at  the  late  period  now  alluded  to, 
difficulties  occurred  in  the  diocese,  which  caused 
much  dissension,  and  continued  to  disturb  its  peace 
for  several  years.  From  them  the  Bishop  experienced 
more  uneasiness  than  from  any  other  incidents  of  his 

*    Journal  of  Pennsylvania  for  1825,  1826  and  1827,  in  his  Annual 
Addresses. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  217 

life.     And  so  he  declared,  on  looking  back  upon  them 
some  time  afterwards,  when  they  had  been  in  a  con- 
siderable measure  removed.     On  a  visit  of  sympathy 
and  condolence  which  he  paid  to  a  lady  with  whose 
family,  as  well  as  with  herself,  he  had  long  maintained 
a  friendly  intercourse,  this  fact  was  feelingly  expressed 
by  him.     In  the  course  of  conversation,  the  lady  in- 
quired his  exact  age.     He  answered  with  much  ani- 
mation: "I  now  claim  to  be  an  octogenarian,  as  I  en^ 
tered  my  eightieth  year  last  April."     "You  are  no 
doubt  ready,"  continued  the  lady,  "to  say  with  the 
patriarch,  few  and  evil  have  been  the  days  of  your 
pilgrimage."     "I  am  not  prepared  to  say  any  such 
thing,"  was  his  prompt  reply;  "for  although  I  have 
suffered  bereavements"  (and  he  named  his  wife  and 
children,  from  whom  he  had  been  separated  by  death), 
"  this  is  the  common  lot :  and  if  one  day  was  marked 
by  affliction,  another  w^as  filled  with  blessings.     My 
severest  trials  have  been,  of  late  years:"  and  in  his 
usual  mild  manner  he  alluded  to  the  difficulties  in  the 
diocese. 

The  Bishop  has  left  among  his  manuscripts  a  full 
account  of  the  origin  and  causes  of  these  difficulties, 
accompanied  by  all  the  documents  relating  to  them, 
But  with  characteristic  forbearance,  and  prudent  re^ 
gard  for  the  harmony  of  the  church,  he  has  left  with 
it  the  following  direction  :  "In  the  case  of  my  decease 
it  is  my  wish  that  no  use  may  be  made  of  the  within, 
unless  needful  for  the  repelling  of  any  attack  on  my 
reputation,  or  to  meet  any  tendency  to  the  disorgani^ 


218  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

zing  of  the  church,  originating  in  the  transactions 
recorded."  At  the  time  when  he  first  commenced  the 
preparation  of  the  account  which  he  has  left,  his 
thought  was,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  that  consi- 
dering my  advanced  years,  I  have  little  prospect  of 
witnessing  the  end  of  the  evil."  Providence,  how- 
ever, ordered  otherwise.  He  had  the  satisfaction,  be- 
fore his  death,  of  seeing  the  harmony  of  the  church 
in  his  diocese  restored.  The  troubles  took  place 
principally  in  the  years  1826  and  1827;  and  I  find, 
annexed  to  the  account  referred  to,  the  followinsf  re- 
marks,  dated  the  25th  of  May  1830.  '' During  our 
diocesan  convention  in  May  of  the  last  year  evidence 
appeared  of  the  decrease  of  tendency  to  disorder,  which 
had  been  manifested  in  some  preceding  sessions.  In 
that  recently  closed  there  have  been  stronger  marks 
of  the  same  decline.  For  this  I  lift  my  heart  in  gra- 
titude to  God,  and  with  prayer  for  the  increase  of  it." 
And  in  a  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart,  dated  the  12th  of 
June  1829,  he  remarks  :  "  If  the  issue  of  the  late  con- 
vention was  a  subject  of  joy  to  you,  it  must  be  pre- 
sumed to  be  much  more  so  to  me.  Having  enjoyed 
the  harmony  of  the  diocese  through  so  long  a  course 
of  years,  it  was  matter  of  some  lamentation  to  me  that 
I  should  at  last  leave  it  in  a  distracted  state ;  which  I 
thought  would  assuredly  be  the  issue  of  certain  late 
contests.  When  the  convention  met,  what  I  had 
principally  at  heart,  although  I  was  by  no  means  as- 
sured of  success,  was  the  carrying  of  certain  changes 
in  the  constitution.     What  added  to  the  danger  of 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  219 

defeat  was,  that  one  of  the  changes*  would  deprive 
some  of  the  clergy  of  their  seats  in  the  convention. 
Great  was  my  surprise  when,  in  the  giving  in  of  the 
result,  it  appeared  that  w^e  had  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  about  two-thirds  of  the  clergy,  and  of 
about  two  in  three  of  the  laity." 

To  enter  at  large  into  a  detail  of  these  transactions, 
and  thereby  endanger  the  revival  of  feelings  which 
have  been  so  happily  calmed,  would  be  as  much  op- 
posed to  the  inclination  of  the  present  waiter  as  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Bishop  above  expressed.  But  since 
they  became  connected  with,  and  had  a  great  influ- 
ence upon,  an  event  of  much  importance  to  the  dio- 
cese— the  election  of  an  assistant  bishop,  a  brief 
account  of  them  is  needful ;  confining  the  state- 
ment, however,  to  the  leading  facts  publicly  known. 
There  were  two  subjects  to  which  they  had  a  relation : 

*  By  the  fourth  section  of  the  state  constitution,  as  altered  at  that 
convention,  "  The  bishop  and  assistant  bishop,  if  there  be  one,  shall  have 
a  seat  and  vote  in  convention.  Every  clergyman  of  the  church,  of  what- 
ever order,  being  a  settled  minister  of  some  parish  within  this  state,  or 
being  a  president,  professor,  tutor  or  instructor  in  some  college,  academy 
or  seminary  of  learning,  incorporated  by  law,  or  being  a  missionary 
under  the  direction  of  the  ecclesiastical  authority  of  this  diocese,  or  a 
chaplain  of  the  navy  or  army  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  entitled  to  a 
seat  and  vote  in  the  convention,  if  he  has  been  actually  and  personally, 
as  well  as  canonically,  resident  within  this  state  for  the  space  of  twelve 
calendar  months  next  before  the  meeting  of  the  convention,  and  has  for 
the  same  period  been  employed  in  performing  the  duties  of  his  station  ;" 
with  certain  provisos  relative  to  temporary  absence,  and  advanced  age  or 
sickness.  Previously  "  all  the  clergy"  of  the  diocese  were  entitled  to 
seats. 


220  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

First,  that  two  associations  were  formed,  in  1824,  by 
some  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese,  for  ecclesiastical 
purposes,  without  any  connection  with  the  bishop; 
one  of  them  being  designed  to  provide  for  and  con- 
duct the  preparatory  education  of  candidates  for  orders, 
who  were  afterwards  to  be  sent,  for  their  theological 
instruction,  to  a  seminary  in  another  diocese,  then 
regarded  as  a  rival  institution  to  the  general  theolo- 
gical seminary  established  by  and  under  the  control 
of  the  general  convention  ;  the  other  for  the  employ- 
ment of  missionaries  in  the  diocese  :  both  of  wliich 
were  disapproved  by  the  bishop  and  the  other  clergy. 
Second,  personal  disrespect  to  the  bishop,  and  inju- 
rious charg'es  ag'ainst  him. 

The  first  public  manifestation  of  feeling  leading  to 
much  dissension,  which  need  be  now  mentioned,  oc- 
curred after  the  diocesan  convention  of  1825.  The 
The  forty-fifth  canon  of  1808,  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining a  full  and  accurate  view  of  the  state  of  the 
church,  required  that  every  minister  "  shall  presenter 
forward,  at  every  annual  convention,  to  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese,  or,  where  there  is  no  bishop,  to  the  presi- 
dent of  the  convention,  a  statement  of  the  number  of 
baptisms,  marriages  and  funerals,  and  of  the  number 
of  communicants  in  his  parish  or  church,  and  of  all 
other  matters  that  may  throw  light  on  the  state  of  the 
same ;  and  these  parochial  reports  shall  be  read  and 
entered  on  the  journals  of  the  convention."  By  a  re- 
solution passed  by  the  above  mentioned  convention, 
on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  it  was  directed  "  that 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  221 

the  parochial  reports  handed  in  at  the  present  con- 
vention shall  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese,  to  be  acted  upon  by  him  in  the  same 
manner,  previously  to  their  publication,  as  if  they  had 
been  regularly  transmitted  to  him  before  the  meeting 
of  the  convention,  according  to  the  forty-fifth  canon."* 
This  was  the  course  thought  by  them  most  agreeable 
to  the  terms  of  the  canon,  and  it  had  been  pursued  in 
several  other  dioceses.  The  bishop  deemed  it  his 
duty  to  strike  out  parts  of  some  of  the  reports,  which 
appeared  not  to  be  within  the  design  of  the  canon, 
before  he  could  take  the  responsibility  of  returning 
them  to  the  secretary  of  the  convention  for  publi- 
cation. His  reasons  for  so  doing  are  thus  stated  by 
himself: 

"  The  late  diocesan  convention  have  devolved  on 
me  the  delicate  task  of  an  examination  of  the  paro- 
chial statements ;  on  the  principle  that  they  ought  to 
have  gone  through  my  hands,  agreeably  to  the  forty- 
fifth  canon.  This  has  thrown  on  me  a  responsibility, 
under  which  I  cannot  consent  to  be  the  organ  of  any 
matter  not  coming  within  the  intendment  of  the  canon ; 
and  much  less  of  any  thing  contrary  to  sound  doc- 
trine or  to  the  order  of  the  church.  The  statements 
have  been  returned  to  the  secretary  with  alterations, 
of  which  the  reason  shall  be  given. 

"  Before  my  entry  on  the  duty  I  endeavoured  to 
inform  myself,  from  the  diocesan  journals,  of  the  prac- 

*     Journal  Penn.,  18'25,  p.  40. 


222  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tice  in  other  dioceses ;  when  I  found  that  in  New 
York,  in  New  Jersey  and  in  Maryland,  the  bishops 
are  the  reporters.  In  the  two  Carolinas  and  in  Ohio 
the  reports  stand  on  the  authority  of  the  parochial 
ministers,  but  are  confined  to  facts.  In  Connecticut, 
without  mention  from  whom  the  report  comes,  they 
are  given  in  collateral  columns;  and  are  confined  to 
the  naked  facts  of  the  number  of  communicants,  bap- 
tisms, marriages,  funerals  and  families.  Of  Virginia 
and  the  eastern  diocese  I  have  not  any  journals,  since 
those  committed  by  me  to  the  conventional  collection 
of  the  union. 

"  As  some  of  the  members  of  the  late  convention 
were  of  opinion  that  every  parochial  minister  should 
be  privileged  to  put  into  his  statement  whatever,  in 
his  judgment,  may  throw  light  on  the  state  of  religion 
in  his  parish,  I  take  occasion  to  set  down  the  follow- 
ing objections  to  that  opinion  : 

"  First.  It  is  contrary  to  the  design  of  the  forty- 
fifth  canon ;  which  requires  its  passing  through  the 
hands  of  the  bishop ;  who  may  be  required,  not  only 
to  have  an  agency  in  what  may  be  contrary  to  his 
conscience  in  matters  of  opinion,  but  to  give  his  sanc- 
tion to  what  he  knows  to  be  untrue.  This  would 
would  have  happened  had  he  been  of  the  party  to  a 
statement  which  may  be  seen  on  the  journal  of  the 
convention  of  1822,  pp.  22,  23.  The  object  of  the 
person  who  presented  the  statement  was  to  induce 
the  persuasion  that  the  success  of  the  measures  for  the 
building  of  a  church  in  Southwark  was  the  conse- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  223 

quence  of  a  blessing  poured  out  on  his  ministerial 
labours.  There  would  not  have  been  a  failure  of  the 
design  had  his  name  never  been  heard  within  the 
district. 

"  Second.  If  there  should  be  any  minister  among 
us  who,  from  the  impulse  of  vanity,  may  wish  to 
magnify  himself,  a  conventional  journal  will  be  an 
engine  convenient  to  his  purpose ;  which  will  be  much 
to  the  discredit  of  the  church. 

"  Third.  A  consequence  may  be  that  some  ministers, 
from  zeal  for  the  propagating  of  opinions,  or  for  the 
sanctioning  of  practices  not  known  in  the  institutions 
of  our  church,  will  press  the  journals  into  their  ser- 
vice ;  which  will  pervert  them  to  the  propagating  of 
error. 

"  Fourth.  A  consequence  of  this  will  probably  be, 
that  other  ministers  will  be  induced  to  balance  the 
errors  by  statements  of  opposite  truths  ;  and  thus  the 
journals  may  become  an  arena  of  religious  controversy. 
Are  there  not  provocations  to  it,  sufficiently  numerous, 
without  this  ? 

"  Fifth.  The  object  of  the  reports  is  the  furnishing 
of  the  general  convention  with  a  view  of  the  state  of 
the  church  in  the  several  dioceses.  If  the  journal  of 
any  diocese  should  contain  matter  foreign  to  the  ob- 
ject, it  will  at  least  be  a  lessening  of  respectability. 
If  there  should  be  material  error  on  its  pages,  there  is 
no  knowing  to  what  extent  of  animadversion  and  con- 
troversy it  may  lead. 

"  Sixth.  It  is  here  suppose^l,  concerning  the  inser- 


224  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tions  objected  to,  that  they  will  be  defended,  not  on 
the  ground  of  the  forty-fifth  canon,  but  on  an  addition 
to  the  intendment  of  it  in  a  resolve  of  the  state  con- 
vention, entered  on  the  twenty-eighth  page  of  the 
journal  of  1822.*  If,  under  the  cover  of  this,  there 
should  be  introduced  any  matter  rendering  the  infor- 
formation  not  merely  more  particular,  but  of  a  com- 
plexion which  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  been  con- 
templated by  the  general  convention,  it  would  be 
improper  to  defend  such  matter  by  the  authority  of 
that  body.  By  this  the  bishop  should  be  governed ; 
reg'ardinD^  the  resolution  so  far  as  it  exacted  greater 
minuteness  under  the  proper  heads  ;  but  disregarding 
any  doings  of  a  tendency  conceived  by  him  to  have 
been  not  contemplated  by  the  principal  instrument; 
which  is  certainly  of  higher  authority  than  a  resolve 
of  the  diocesan  convention,"  He  then  proceeds  to 
state  the  reasons  for  the  particular  alterations  (which 
consisted  solely  of  omissions) ;  but  it  is  unnecessary 
here  to  introduce  them. 

Dissatisfaction  with  the  course  taken  by  the  bishop 
was  expressed  by  some  of  the  clergy  engaged  in  the 
associations  mentioned  in  a  preceding  page ;  and  a 
piece,  w^'itten  by  one  of  them,  appeared  in  a  weekly 
religious  periodical  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  deny- 
ing the  power  of  the  bishop  to  make  any  alterations 

*  "  Resolved,  In  order  to  give  effect  to  the  forty-fifth  canon  of  the 
general  convention,  that,  in  presenting  their  parochial  reports,  the  clergy 
are  hereby  recommended  to  bring  forward  whatever  facts  may  exliibit  the 
state  of  religion  in  their  respective  parishes." 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  225 

in  the  reports  of  the  parochial  clergy ;  and  apparently 
charp-ino-  him  with  ''lordinof  it  over  God's  heritaj^e." 
Those  words  were  indeed  introduced  in  the  way  of 
general  remark,  without  an  explicit  application  of 
them  to  him  ;  but  the  connection  led  clearly,  it  was 
thought,  to  such  an  application ;  which  was  farther 
confirmed  by  some  facts  communicated  to  him.  After 
some  months  the  writer  of  the  piece  publicly  dis- 
claimed the  intention  of  treating  the  bishop  with  dis- 
respect ;  but  his  language  in  relation  to  the  charge 
insinuated  in  the  words  above  mentioned  was  thought 
ambiguous  at  least,  and  therefore  unsatisfactory.  The 
same  course,  however,  was  pursued  by  the  Bishop 
with  the  parochial  reports  at  subsequent  conventions, 
without  any  opposition.  And,  on  a  revision  of  the 
canons  by  the  general  convention  in  1832,  the  power 
was  defined,  by  canon  fifty-one,  in  more  explicit  terms; 
and  agreed  with  that  which  he  had  exercised. 

The  dissensions,  commencinof  from  the  foreo^oinsf 

'  o  on 

circumstances,  were  increased,  and  with  much  greater 
excitement  of  feeling,  in  consequence  of  the  adoption 
of  measures  for  the  election  of  an  assistant  bishop. 
Though  Dr  White  took  the  first  formal  step  in  the 
execution  of  this  design,  he  was  not  led  to  it  by  his 
own  desire  of  being  relieved  from  any  duties,  by  being 
provided  with  an  assistant;  but  by  a  belief  that  many 
of  the  clergy,  both  of  those  who  agreed  with  him  in 
the  principles  of  his  ecclesiastical  government,  and  of 
those  who  dissented  from  him,  thought  that  the  wel- 
fare of  the  diocese  required  the  election  of  an  assistant 
u 


226  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

bishop;  as  Dr  White,  from  his  advanced  age— from 
the  territorial  extent  of  his  diocese — from  the  increase 
of  the  episcopal  duties  in  consequence  of  the  enlarged 
number  of  the  clergy  and  congregations — and  from 
being  incumbered  with  a  parochial  charge,  was  not 
able  to  perform  all  the  services  which  the  improved 
state  of  the  diocese  demanded.  Having  laid  the  sub- 
ject before  his  council  of  advice,  and  received  their 
approbation  and  recommendation  of  the  measure,  he 
called  a  special  convention  for  the  purpose,  to  meet  in 
October  1826.  His  views  and  motives  having  been 
fully  stated  by  himself,  in  two  addresses  delivered  at 
that  convention,  one  at  the  commencement  and  the 
other  at  the  close  of  its  session,  they  are  inserted  in  the 
Appendix.*  He  took  no  active  part,  and  used  no  in- 
fluence, in  the  selection  of  a  presbyter  for  nomination : 
though  he  afterwards  voted  for  the  one  selected  by  his 

friends,  t 

To  the  causes  of  dissension  previously  existing, 
were  added,  when  the  convention  assembled,  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  relative  to  the  presbyter  so  selected, 
and  an  apprehension,  in  some  members,  that  an  elec- 
tion might  be  made,  favourable  to  the  support  of  the 
same  principles  of  government  w^hich  were  approved 
by  the  present  bishop.  The  clergy  opposed  to  them 
proposed  therefore  for  nomination  a  presbyter  of  an- 
other diocese. I     And  when  the  votes  of  the  clerical 


*     Appendix,  No.  VIII.  f     The  Author  of  this  Memoir. 

I     The  Rev.  Dr  Meade,  now  assistant  bishop  of  Virginia. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  227 

order  were  taken,  it  was  found  that  a  majority  of  them 
was  not  given  in  favour  of  either  of  the  individuals 
proposed.  No  nomination,  therefore,  could  be  made 
by  them  for  the  assent  and  approbation  of  the  laity. 
Further  proceedings  on  the  subject  were  postponed 
until  the  next  annual  convention,  which  was  to  meet 
at  Harrisburg  in  May  1827. 

In  the  interval  between  the  special  and  stated  con- 
ventions, the  excitement  continued.  The  measures 
taken  in  reference  to  the  expected  election  will  not  be 
here  detailed,  for  the  reasons  already  stated.  At  the 
convention  in  May,  the  Bishop's  friends  had  a  majo- 
rity of  one  in  the  order  of  clergy,  and  a  small  majority 
of  the  congregations.  Under  such  circumstances,  it 
was  not  in  the  power  of  the  clergy  to  nominate  to  the 
laity  a  presbyter  belonging  to  the  diocese ;  as  the  loss 
of  his  vote — -since  he  could  not  with  propriety  consent 
to  give  it  in  his  own  favour — would  prevent  a  majority 
on  either  side.  The  Rev.  Dr  Meade  had,  in  the  in- 
terval between  the  two  conventions,  declared  his  un- 
willingness to  be  again  proposed :  and  the  name  of  the 
other  presbyter  was  understood  to  be  likewise  with- 
drawn. The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the 
Rev.  Henry  U.  Onderdonk,  a  presbyter  of  the  diocese 
of  New  York,  by  a  majority  of  one  of  the  clergy,  and 
two  or  three  of  the  congregations.  Mr  Onderdonk 
had  no  previous  knowledge  of  the  intention  to  propose 
him :  the  design  of  so  doing  being  indeed  not  suggested, 
until  after  the  convention  had  assembled.  But  havino" 
considered  the  subject  for  some  time,  and  being  in- 


•228  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

formed  and  satisfied  that  the  peace  of  the  diocese  re- 
quired his  acceptance  of  the  office,  he  was  persuaded 
to  give  his  consent.  His  consecration,  after  some  in- 
effectual opposition,  took  place  in  October  1827;  and 
he  became  assistant  to  Bishop  AVhite.  He  has  now 
succeeded  him  as  diocesan;  acting  in  both  stations 
with  much  prudence,  conciUation  and  abihty.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  the  general  harmony  of  the  dio- 
cese was  happily  restored. 

Soon  after  the  late  Bishop  Hobart  was  settled  as  an 
assistant  minister  in  Trinity  parish,  New  York,  a  cor- 
respondence commenced  between  Bishop  White  and 
him,  which  became  more  frequent,  familiar  and  free, 
after  they  were  associated  in  the  government  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  in  conse- 
quence of  the  election  of  the  latter  in  1811  to  be 
assistant  bishop  of  New  York,  and  continued  until  his 
decease  in  1830.  This  is  the  only  extensive  corre- 
spondence of  the  subject  of  this  Memoir  which  I  have 
obtained,  or  know  to  exist;  except  the  various  letters 
relative  to  the  measures  for  the  first  organization  of 
the  Church;  the  purport  of  which  has  been  sufficiently 
stated  by  himself  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  Church. 
Letters,  or  extracts  from  letters  from  him  to  Bishop 
Hobart,  which  are  thought  suited  to  the  design  of  this 
Memoir — of  which  there  are  not  many — are  inserted 
in  the  Appendix.*  The  greater  part  of  the  corre- 
spondence relates  to  particular  cases  which  arose,  and 

*     Appendix,  No.  IX. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  229 

on  which  he  was  consulted;  and  contains  opinions  on 
the  interpretation  of  the  constitution  and  canons  ap- 
plicable to  some  of  those  cases.  The  letters  or  ex- 
tracts selected  are  of  a  different  kind ;  adapted  to  illus- 
trate, in  some  measure,  the  character  and  principles 
of  the  subject  of  tliis  Memoir,  or  containing  his 
thoughts  on  some  points  of  general  interest. 

Between  these  two  very  eminent  men,  the  greatest 
confidence,  respect  and  affection  existed,  founded  on 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  each  other  for  a  long  period- 
Both  were  possessed  of  great  abilities  and  information, 
and  of  equal  attachment  to  the  Church.  But  in  the 
character  of  their  dispositions  and  minds  there  was  a 
great  diversity,  and  even,  in  some  particulars,  a  con- 
trast.  And  it  is  believed  that  greater  benefits  hence 
resulted  to  the  Church  from  their  union  and  mutual 
assistance  in  her  councils.  They  were  w^ell  qualified 
to  give  effectual  aid  to  each  other,  in  forming  and  exe- 
cuting designs  for  promoting  her  peace  and  prosperity, 
and  securing  her  purity  in  doctrine,  discipline  and 
worship:  and  the  ardour,  energy,  promptness  and 
decision  of  the  one  were  tempered  and  guided  by  the 
great  experience,  cool  judgment,  caution,  calm  pru- 
dence and  firmness  of  the  other.  On  several  very 
interesting  subjects  of  theology  and  church  govern- 
ment, they  differed  in  opinion;  Dr  White  having 
formed  his  theological  views,  after  full  examination, 
and  on  clear  conviction,  upon  the  model  of  those  of  the 
low  church  divines — as  they  were  called  in  England 
— of  the  established  church  in  that  country;  while 


230  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Dr  Hobart  was  inclined  to  the  opposite  system. 
They  freely,  and  often  earnestly,  maintained  their 
opposing  sentiments,  with  little  effect  on  each  other's 
persuasion,  and  without,  in  the  smallest  degree,  dimin- 
ishing their  mutual  esteem  and  friendship. 

The  parish  of  which  Dr  White  had  been  so  long 
rector,  consisted,  as  we  have  seen,  of  three  congrega- 
tions, united  under  one  charter  of  incorporation.  The 
union  had  originally  been  the  result  of  certain  circum- 
stances in  the  condition  of  the  Episcopal  churches 
here,  which  were  thought  to  render  it  necessary  for 
avoiding  the  danger  of  dissensions,  which  would  other- 
wise very  probably  arise.  The  two  churches,  Christ 
Church  and  St  Peter's,  of  which  the  parish  was  com- 
posed previous  to  the  completion  of  St  James's  in 
1809,  were  built  a  considerable  time  before  the  revo- 
lution. Christ  Church,  the  oldest,  having  been  found 
insufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  increased 
congregation  belonging  to  it,  a  new  one  became  ne- 
cessary; and  it  was  built  about  the  year  1759,  by 
their  common  contributions.  The  question  whether 
the  new  church  should  form  a  distinct  parish,  or 
should  be  united  in  one  with  the  old  church,  appears 
to  have  been  considered  by  the  vestry.  The  existing 
rector  of  Christ  Church,  Dr  Jenney,  advocated  their 
union ;  apprehending  that  if  independent  rectors  were 
appointed  rivalship  would  be  excited,  and  inconveni- 
ences and  dissensions  might  occur,  for  which  there 
would  be  no  adequate  remedy.  The  church  was 
destitute  of  the  advantage  of  episcopal  superinten- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  AVHITE.  231 

dence,  and  consequently  without  any  acknowledged 
superior  authority,  by  which  the  controversies  betw^een 
the  contending  parties  could  be  decided  or  composed. 
These  dangers  he  thought  might  be  avoided  by  pla- 
cing both  under  the  same  rector,  with  an  assistant 
minister.  His  sentiments  were  communicated  in  a 
letter  to  the  vestry.  They  seem  to  have  been  satis- 
factory, and  his  plan  w^as  adopted.*  The  parish  was, 
many  years  after,  farther  enlarged,  as  we  have  seen, 
on  the  erection  of  St  James's  Church.  But  now  the 
former  dangers,  to  avoid  which  the  union  was  recom- 
mended and  adopted,  were  removed,  as  the  church 
enjoyed  the  full  benefit  of  the  episcopal  authority ; 
while  serious  evils  of  another  kind  had  been  lonor  ex- 
perienced,  especially  in  the  great  obstructions  to  the 
efficient  performance  of  parochial  duties  in  so  exten- 
sive a  parish,  whose  members  lived  in  very  dispersed 
situations,  and  whose  rector  and  assistant  ministers 
had  an  equal  and  undivided  connection  with  all  of 
them.  These  inconveniences  led  to  a  proposal  for  the 
separation  of  the  three  churches  into  distinct  parishes ; 
v/hich  was  accordingly  effected  at  different  periods  : 
St  James's  being  first  separated  from  the  other  two, 
and  afterwards  St  Peter's  from  Christ  Church.  But 
the  respect  and  affection  of  all  the  congregations  for 
the  Bishop  were  too  strong  to  allow  of  the  dissolution 
of  his  connection  with  either  of  them  as  their  rector. 
He  was  continued,  therefore,  in  that  relation  to  the 

*     Episcopal  Magazine  for  October  1820,  pp.  305,  306. 


232  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

three  separate  parishes,  with  an  assistant  appropriated 
to  each,  and  designed  to  succeed  him  therein  as  rec- 
tor after  his  decease. 

He  was  now  at  a  very  advanced  period  of  hfe. 
The  marks  of  age  and  bodily  infirmity  became  very 
visible  ;  yet  he  was  still  able  to  attend  to  various  ac- 
tive duties,  and  continued  regularly  to  preach  in  one 
or  other  of  his  churches  once  on  every  Lord's  day.* 
But  there  was  no  apparent  decay  of  his  intellect. 
His  sound  judgment,  and  powers  of  reflection  and 
reasoning,  continued  unimpaired.  The  pastoral  letter 
of  the  house  of  bishops,  at  the  general  convention  of 
1835,  was  prepared  by  him  (as  all  the  preceding  let- 
ters had  been),  and  also  publicly  read  to  both  houses 
at  the  close  of  the  session.  He  still  frequently  wTote 
pieces  for  insertion  in  the  periodical  publications ; 
and  on  two  very  interesting  occasions — one  of  which 
was  thought  by  him  to  have  a  most  serious  and  un- 
happy influence  on  the  religious  welfare  of  the  pub- 
lic at  large,  and  the  other  had  engaged  the  deep  and 
lively  feelings  of  the  great  body  of  the  church  over 
which  he  presided — he  prepared  an  address  and  a 
letter  of  instructions,  which  gave  ample  proofs  of  the 
truth  of  the  fact  just  stated,  and  also  of  his  unwearied 
and  unintermitted  attention  to  whatever  was  demanded 
by  the  duties  of  his  station.     For  this  reason,  as  well 

*  The  last  occasion  was  on  Sunday,  June  26,  1836,  at  St  Peter's, 
when  he  preached  the  sermon,  "  Of  the  Gospel  Sword,"  from  Hebrews, 
ch.  4,  V.  12  (No.  LXXIV.  in  the  sermons  arranged  for  publication)  ; 
written,  however,  many  years  before. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  233 

as  for  the  importance  of  their  contents,  they  are  here 
introduced. 

The  first  of  them  was  occasioned  by  the  will  of  Mr 
Girard,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  wdio  di- 
rected a  very  considerable  part  of  his  immense  pro- 
perty, devised  to  the  corporation  of  the  city,  to  be  ap- 
propriated by  them  to  the  establishment  of  a  college 
for  the  maintenance  and  education  of  a  large  number 
of  orphan  boys.     This  charity  w^as  in  itself  highly 
laudable ;  but  it  was  incumbered  by  a  provision  con- 
tained in  the  will  prohibiting  the  admission  of  any 
clergyman  of  any  denomination  within  the  walls  of 
the  college ;  and  also,  as  was  thought,  excluding,  at 
least  by  strong  implication,  all  religious  instruction, 
by  explicitly  providing  for  only  a  moral  education. 
The  evil  tendency  of  such  an  institution,  communica- 
ting only  literary  and  scientific  knowledge,  and  thereby 
enlarging  abilities  which,  most  probably,  would  be 
applied  to  mischievous  purposes,  unless  accompanied 
and  regulated  by  religious  principles  instilled  into  the 
minds  of  the  pupils— these  being  the  only  effectual 
security  for  the  direction  of  the  former  to  their  proper 
uses — forcibly  struck  the  Bishop's  mind  ;  and  he  felt 
himself  called  on  by  his  station  to  use  his  influence  to 
counteract  the  evil.     He  therefore  prepared,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  public  papers,  an  address  to  the  select 
and  common  councils  of  the  city,  with  a  view  to  per- 
suade them  not  to  accept  the  trust.     The  passage  of 
the  will  and  the  address  are  as  follows : 


234  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Clause  of  the  will :  "I  enjoin  and  require  that  no 
ecclesiastic,  missionary  or  minister,  of  any  sect  what- 
soever, shall  ever  hold  or  exercise  any  station  or  duty 
whatever  in  the  said  college ;  nor  shall  any  such  per- 
son ever  be  admitted  for  any  purpose,  or  as  a  visitor, 
within  the  premises  appropriated  to  the  purposes  of 
the  said  colleg-e.  In  making-  this  restriction,  I  do  not 
mean  to  cast  any  reflection  upon  any  sect  or  person 
whatsoever  ;  hut  as  there  is  such  a  multitude  of  sects, 
and  such  a  diversity  of  opinion  amongst  them,  I  de- 
sire to  keep  the  tender  minds  of  the  orphans,  who  are 
to  derive  advantage  from  this  bequest,  free  from  the 
excitement  which  clashing  doctrines  and  sectarian 
controversy  are  so  apt  to  produce.  My  desire  is  that 
all  the  instructors  and  teachers  in  the  college  shall 
take  pains  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  the  scholars  the 
purest  principles  of  morality,  so  that,  on  their  entrance 
into  active  life,  they  may,  from  inclination  and  habit, 
evince  benevolence  towards  their  fellow  creatures, 
and  a  love  of  truth,  sobriety  and  industry,  adopting 
at  the  same  time  such  religious  tenets  as  their  ma- 
tured reason  may  enable  them  to  prefer." 

The  address ;  "  An  opinion  respectfully  oifered  to 
the  members  of  the  city  council,  on  the  question  of 
their  acceptance  of  the  legacy  of  Stephen  Girard, 
Esquire,  for  the  founding  and  supporting  of  a  literary 
institution  for  the  education  of  orphans. 

''  It  has  been  a  subject  of  controversy,  whether,  in 
the  administering  of  the  civil  concerns  of  a  commu- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  235 

nity,  there  should  be  the  introduction  of  the  sanctions 
of  religion,  or  they  should  not  rather  be  left  to  the  re- 
ligious principle  in  the  minds  of  men.  The  latter 
part  of  this  alternative  has  been  held  by  some,  not 
from  hostility  to  religion,  but  because  of  the  abuses 
of  it,  which  have  been  to  the  worst  of  worldly  pur- 
poses. 

"  The  notions  of  men  of  this  sort  have  been  consi- 
dered as  visionary,  and  have  never  been  consistently 
acted  on  ;  and  it  has  been  thought  necessary  in  the 
construction  of  every  civil  community,  to  apply  the 
religious  principle  to  the  accomplishing  of  its  right- 
eous views.  In  Pennsylvania,  in  particular,  the  first 
legislative  act  of  its  founder  was  to  affirm  the  being 
of  a  God,  and  the  divine  authority  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Accordingly  these  have  been  held  as  part 
of  the  law  of  the  land,  and  have  been  recognized  as 
such  by  our  courts  of  justice. 

"  In  general,  when  the  cause  of  atheism  has  been 
maintained,  it  has  not  been  in  an  endeavour  to  prove 
that  there  is  no  God.  The  atheist  is  not  bound  to 
this.  The  positive  side  of  the  argument  is  thrown  on 
the  theist.  If  his  adversary  can  show,  either  that  the 
proofs  are  insufficient,  or  can  prove  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject that  it  has  not,  of  necessity,  a  moral  influence  on 
the  concerns  of  men,  his  cause  is  triumphant. 

"Under  the  latter  part  of  this  alternative  atheism 
obtrudes  itself  in  disguise.  Moral  conduct,  says  the 
insidious  betrayer,  rests  on  the  immutable  foundation 
of  reason,  and  on  its  subserviency  to  our  present  satis- 


236  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

factions  :  why  not  then  commit  it  to  its  correspondent 
motive  of  the  desire  of  happiness,  and  of  preference 
of  the  means  which  the  best  promote  it  ? 

"  Perhaps  as  dangerous  an  argument  as  ever  was 
pubhshed  in  favour  of  this  theory  is  that  which  may 
be  seen  under  the  name  of  '  A  Moral  Dialogue,'  in 
the  last  volume  of  the  Works  of  the  King  of  Prussia. 
There  is  not  in  it  a  word  in  denial  of  the  beino-  of 
God,  or  of  a  future  state,  or  of  the  like  motives  of  hu- 
man conduct.  The  production  is  here  spoken  of 
under  the  recollection  of  what  was  read  in  it  many 
years  ago.  The  writer  of  this  cannot  be  mistaken 
when  he  states,  that  in  the  various  shapes  in  which 
it  puts  forth  its  reasonings,  it  consistently  adheres  to 
the  theory  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  natural  desire  of 
man  to  obtain  his  highest  happiness,  and  of  his  know- 
ledge of  the  most  direct  means  to  it.  The  most  diffi- 
cult part  of  the  operation  of  the  author  was  the  recon- 
ciling of  his  scheme  to  what  are  the  results  of  the 
consciousness  of  the  mind  in  its  retirement  from  hu- 
man view.  The  censure  and  the  scorn  of  the  world 
are  held  up  as  restraints  from  whatever  is  base.  But 
an  objector  is  made  to  propose  the  inquiry,  as  to  what 
is  to  be  done  on  the  prospect  of  unjust  gain  to  be 
acquired  without  the  knowledge  of  the  w^orld.  The 
moralist  decides  that  the  advantage  should  be  waved, 
lest  the  secret  should  start  forth  to  view  in  one  of  the 
many  ways  not  to  be  foreseen  or  guarded  against 
The  objector,  returning  to  his  point,  puts  the  case  as 
possible,  which  none  can  deny,  of  a  certainty  that  the 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  237 

crime  will  be  for  ever  hid  from  the  knowledge  of  men. 
May  I  then  commit  it  ?  No,  replies  the  moralist ; 
because  you  would  be  made  unhappy  by  the  con- 
sciousness, that  if  it  w^ere  known  there  would  be  the 
retribution  of  public  censure.  Such  is  a  scheme  of 
morals,  presented  as  competent  to  the  regulating  of 
the  conduct  of  man,  acted  on  as  he  is  by  his  frailties 
and  by  his  passiojis. 

"The  said  dialogue  has  been  brought  into  view  as 
an  ingenious  specimen  of  the  subtlety  with  which 
there  may  be  urged  the  project  of  excluding  religion 
from  the  government  of  human  conduct.  The  repu- 
ted author  was  the  philosopher,  D'Alernbert,  of  the 
same  school  with  Voltaire.  It  is  not  here  known  that 
the  dialogue  ever  met  the  eye  of  Mr  Girard  :  but  it  is 
thought  that  he  could  not  have  more  exactly  pursued 
its  theory  than  has  been  done  in  the  constitution  of 
his  seminary.  The  will  goes  to  the  extent  of  the 
abandonment  of  religion,  as  prescribing  the  rules  of 
human  conduct.  If  a  collection  of  youth  may  have 
their  attention  exclusively  directed  to  other  motives, 
no  reason  can  be  given  why  they  may  not  be  surren- 
dered to  the  same  through  life.  If  the  instructors  are 
forbidden  to  call  the  attention  of  their  pupils  to  the 
author  of  all  the  wonders  which  open  on  their  senses; 
and  to  a  state  succeeding  that  which,  as  they  must 
soon  discover,  will  be  ended  by  the  grave ;  and  cer- 
tainly silence  on  these  and  on  the  like  subjects  is  ex- 
acted by  the  terms  of  the  bequest ;  and  if  the  pre- 


238  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

scribed  rule  of  life  be  sufficient  until  the  age  of  four- 
teen or  fifteen,  or  even  of  eighteen,  long  before  which 
there  will  be  felt  the  struggles  between  inclination 
and  the  sense  of  duty ;  the  sufficiency  of  the  same 
rule  for  the  remainder  of  life  is  an  obvious  conse- 
quence. 

"  The  error  of  Mr  Girard's  restrictions  is  evident 
in  the  principle  on  which  it  is  founded — the  diversity 
of  sentiment  on  subjects  of  religion.  Let  the  princi- 
ple be  tested  in  application  to  the  relations  of  domestic 
life.  No  wise  head  of  a  family  withholds  instruction 
from  his  children  on  the  reciprocal  duties  of  parent 
and  child,  and  of  the  parties  to  a  marriage  contract. 
Yet  how  many  shades  of  difference  of  opinion  are 
there  as  to  the  proper  extent  of  parental  power, 
and  to  that  of  the  correspondent  obedience  of  the 
child  ?  Similar  diversities  prevail  as  to  the  other 
relations.  Is  sage  instruction  to  be  delayed  on  these 
accounts? 

"The  like  remark  may  be  made  on  the  subject  of 
civil  rulers,  and  of  the  allegiance  due  from  the  citizen 
or  subject.  What  a  wide  field  is  open  by  the  claims 
of  power  in  the  hands  of  a  single  person,  or  in  those 
of  a  few,  or  in  an  aristocracy,  or  in  a  popular  assem- 
bly, or  in  some  one  of  the  many  mixed  forms  which 
have  been  either  adopted  or  imagined  !  According  to 
the  reasoning  of  the  will,  all  determination  should  be 
deferred  to  the  ages  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  or  perhaps 
eighteen  ;  yet,  in  disregard  of  such  laxity,  every  good 
citizen  instils  into  the  minds  of  his  offspring  senti- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  239 

ments  which  sustain  the  rights  of  those  who  govern, 
and  exact  obedience  within  the  limits  of  the  laws. 

"  The  present  writer  has  a  very  limited  acquain- 
tance with  the  gentlemen  who  compose  the  respectable 
bodies  of  our  city  councils.     He  supposes  of  the  most, 
and  thinks  it  probable  of  all  of  them,  that  they  con- 
fess the  claims  of  religion,  by  denominating  themselves 
as  belonging,  each  of  them,  to  one  or  to  another  of  the 
religious  societies  within  the  bounds  of  the  city.     He 
therefore,  with  great  respect,  submits  to  their  under- 
standings how  far  they  can,  with  clear  consciences, 
undertake  the  government  of  a  seminary  which  dis- 
charges its  pupils  from  all  regard  to  religious  obliga- 
tion, and  from  all  subjection  to  religious  discipline. 
They  cannot  but  be  aware  of  the  contrariety  of  so 
ungodly  a  regimen  to  those  Holy  Scriptures  which 
they  make  the  foundation  of  their  several  creeds.     In 
the  Old  Testament  they  read — '  bring  up  a  child  in 
the  way  in  which  he  should  go.'     They  cannot  be 
ignorant  of  what  the  Jewish  lawgiver  says  concerning 
the  laws  of  God — '  thou  shalt  diligently  teach  them 
to  thy  children,  and  thou  shalt  talk  of  them  when 
thou  sittest  in  thy  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by 
the  way,  and  when  thou  lyest  down,  and  when  thou 
risest  up.'     And,  if  moral  cultivation  be  a  part  of  the 
plan  of  any  literary  institution,  it  cannot  be  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  caution — '  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  wisdom.'     The  calls  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  in  unison  with  those  of  the  Old — 'ye  parents 
bring  up  your  children  in  the  nurture  and  admoni- 


240  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

tion  of  the  Lord  ;'  'children  obey  your  parents  in  the 
Lord  ;  and,  '  I  write  unto  you,  little  children,  because 
ye  have  known  the  Father.'  Very  different  are  these 
and  the  like  provisions  from  the  delay  of  even  the 
mention  of  such  sanctions  of  duty  to  young  men  under 
the  ages  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  or  towards  eighteen ; 
whatever  need  there  may  be  seen  of  them  in  the  in- 
creasing strength  of  their  passions  and  of  their  appe- 
tites. 

"Let  there  be  attention  to  the  operation  of  the  be- 
quest in  its  occasional  violation  of  the  tenderest  feel- 
ings of  the  parental  breast.  We  will  suppose  four 
religious  men — an  Episcopalian,  a  Presbyterian,  a 
Baptist  and  a  Methodist — in  circumstances  barely 
competent  to  the  subsistence  of  their  families.  Let 
them  perceive  themselves  departing  this  life,  without 
provision  for  the  support  and  the  education  of  their 
children ;  and  no  other  guardianship  over  them  to  be 
relied  on,  beside  that  of  certain  functionaries  of  the 
city,  wisely  provided  for  the  object.  These  guardians 
may  judge  the  binding  of  them  to  reputable  trades- 
men to  have  less  prospect  of  advantage  than  the  en- 
tering of  them  into  the  contemplated  receptacle  of 
orphans.  According  to  the  character  of  the  supposed 
dying  men,  notwithstanding  the  diversities  of  their 
opinions  on  various  points,  they  would  be  the  same 
in  the  design,  had  their  lives  been  spared,  of  giving  a 
religious  education  to  their  children;  whose  deaths 
they  would  deem  a  less  calamity  than  their  being 
thrown  on  a  world  of  temptation  at  the  age  of  four- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  241 

teeen,  or  of  fifteen,  or  of  eighteen,  without  the  know- 
ledge of  God  or  of  a  future  state,  or  of  those  Scriptures 
which,  in  the  parental  estimate,  are  necessary  to  their 
being  made  '  wise  unto  salvation.'  A  great  proportion 
of  the  children  of  the  poor  are  disposed  of  under 
a  guardianship  created  by  the  laws.  This  will  prO' 
bably  be  the  principal  source  of  supply  to  a  seminary 
in  which  the  sound  of  the  voice  of  religion  is  never  to 
reach  the  ears  of  the  juvenile  inmates. 

"  It  would  be  unjust  to  the  memory  of  Mr  Girard 
not  to  notice  his  remarking  it  as  a  privilege  of  his 
orphans,  on  their  arrival  at  the  age  for  the  leaving  of 
the  seminary,  to  adopt  such  tenets  as  their  matured 
reason  may  enable  them  to  prefer.  It  is  not  to  the 
purpose  to  inquire  how  far  this  privilege,  which  his 
protegees  will  derive  from  the  laws  of  the  land,  may 
be  supposed  to  add  to  or  enforce  the  moral  education 
which  they  may  have  brought  with  them  from  the 
seminary.  Whatever  may  have  been,  or  may  not 
have  been,  the  wishes  of  the  testator  to  this  point; 
and  whatever  effect  our  favourable  construing  of  his 
views  may  have  on  our  estimate  of  his  own  character, 
it  is  all  foreign  to  the  present  argument,  which  tends 
to  the  two  positions,  that  it  is  irreligious  and  unchris* 
tian  to  accept  of  the  public  responsibility  of  an  insti- 
tution, to  the  pupils  of  which  there  shall  be  denied  all 
instruction  in  religion,  and  that  if  other  motives  are 
sufficient  for  their  government  until  their  arrival  at 
the  ages  of  fourteen  and  fifteen  and  eighteen,  no  rea^ 


242  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

son  can  be  given  why  they  may  not  be  sufficient 
through  the  remainder  of  life. 

"Perhaps  there  may  seem  an  interference  of  the 
argument  with  a  prejudice  not  uncommon,  that  the 
minds  of  the  secluded  orphans  would  be  sensible  of 
impressions  made  on  them  by  nature  of  the  being  of 
God,  and  of  their  responsibility  to  his  tribunal.  This 
is  the  exploded  doctrine  of  innate  ideas.  If  there  be 
any  not  yet  reached  by  what  has  been  written  on  the 
subject  by  John  Locke,  they  may  be  referred  to  the 
observations  lately  made  on  those  born  deaf  and  dumb ; 
who  know  nothing  of  the  primary  truths  of  religion, 
until  taught  through  the  medium  of  the  expedients 
brought  into  operation  for  that  unfortunate  class  of  the 
human  family.  Whether  the  design  of  Mr  Girard 
can  be  strictly  executed,  may  be  considered  as  a  prob- 
lem. Should  this  be  the  case,  his  orphans  will  leave 
the  seat  of  their  juvenile  residence,  as  void  of  any  trace 
of  a  knowledge  of  the  Deity,  as  some  who  might  be 
shown  to  him  in  an  institution  which  in  his  will  he 
has  properly  distinguished  by  a  munificent  donation. 

"  It  is  required,  that  for  admission  the  orphan  shall 
be  between  six  and  ten  years  of  age.  Doubtless, 
within  those  terms,  there  are  sometimes  salutary  im- 
pressions on  infant  minds.  Where  this  has  been  the 
case,  it  is  not  probable,  that  a  single  trace  of  them  will 
remain  through  years,  in  a  sphere  so  unfavourable  to 
their  cultivation. 

"It  may  be  anticipated,  as  very  unlikely,  that  for 
the  intended  seminary  there  will  be  obtained,  even  if 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  243 

it  should  be  thought  desirable,  instructors  who  are 
believers  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  who  have  its 
interests  at  heart.  Were  this  possible,  it  is  easy  to 
perceive  the  painful  circumstances  in  which  such  in- 
structors must  sometimes  find  themselves.  Let  an 
instructor  be  supposed  taking  a  walk  with  one  of  the 
pupils,  on  some  fine  morning  during  the  renewal  of 
the  herbage  of  the  year.  Let  there  arise  in  the  mind 
of  the  former,  some  such  passage  as  the  Address  to  the 
Deity,  in  Adam's  Morning  Hymn,  in  Milton — '  These 
are  thy  wondrous  works.  Parent  of  good !  Almighty, 
&c.'  The  instructor,  warmed  by  the  theme  and  by 
the  surrounding  scene,  might  be  tempted  to  break  out 
in  such  an  act  of  adoration.  But  it  would  be  unfaith- 
fulness to  his  trust,  and  he  must  keep  it  a  secret  from 
his  pupil  that  he  believes  in  the  existence  of  such  a 
being.  The  supposition  might  be  diversified  by  a 
great  variety  of  cases ;  sufficient  to  show,  that,  under 
the  provisions  of  the  will,  there  will  be  an  interdict  of 
Christian  instructors,  whether  designed  or  not,  as  well 
as  of  Christian  teaching  within  the  walls. 

"  That  there  will  be  the  supply  of  teachers  of  a  very 
diff'erent  description,  may  be  counted  on ;  and  modern 
times  have  multiplied  those  pests  of  society,  who, 
under  the  profession  of  schoolmasters,  lose  no  oppor- 
tunities of  infusing  their  poison  of  infidelity  into  un- 
suspicious minds.  Such  instructors  have  no  autho- 
rity, under  the  will,  to  go  beyond  the  lessons  of  mere 
morality ;  so  as  to  teach  any  doctrine  of  absolute  irre- 
ligion — from  the  highest  point  of  atheism  to  the  most 


244  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

specious  of  all  the  expedients  for  the  misrepresentation 
of  any  of  the  contents  of  Holy  Scripture.  But  no  one, 
acquainted  with  human  nature,  will  believe  that  such 
instructors,  in  teaching,  will  find  reluctance  to  the 
guarding  of  their  pupils  against  the  religious  truths 
which  will  be  addressed  to  them  on  their  entrance 
into  social  life;  resolving  what  they  will  hear  into 
popular  fable  and  superstition,  which  it  is  now  high 
time  to  lay  aside. 

"  From  the  tenor  of  the  argument,  there  will  have 
been  anticipated  the  opinion  of  what  should  be  ex- 
pected from  city  councils.  It  is,  that  there  should  be 
a  respectful  but  determined  rejection  of  the  trust  in- 
tended to  be  instituted  by  the  will  of  Stephen  Girard, 
Esq.,  for  the  maintaining  and  the  educating  of  or- 
phans. 

"It  is  a  great  sacrifice;  but  it  cannot  be  too  great, 
when  the  acceptance  of  it  would  be  an  acknowledge- 
ment that  religion,  even  in  its  simplest  forms,  is  un- 
necessary to  the  binding  of  men  to  their  various  duties. 
As  yet,  no  such  theory  has  shown  its  face  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  any  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the 
United  States.  If  the  breaking  of  this  unholy  ground 
should  be  a  corporate  act  of  our  city  councils,  there 
will  be  apprehended  from  it  the  most  disastrous  con- 
sequences, by 

"A  Citizen  of  Philadelphia. 

''P.S.  Since  the  penning  of  the  above,  it  appears 
from  the  newspapers,  that  the  honourable  legislature 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  245 

and  the  city  councils  have  reciprocally  appointed  com- 
mittees, to  confer  on  the  subject  of  the  legacy.  We 
are  in  an  awful  crisis.  It  is  submitted  to  legislative 
decision,  whether  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  founded 
on  the  acknowledgement  of  a  God,  shall  declare  by  a 
solemn  act,  that  the  belief  of  such  a  Being  is  unne- 
cessary to  the  moral  cultivation  and  government  of 
the  human  kind.  There  will  be  no  affirmation  of  the 
non-existence  of  God.  But  it  will  commit  the  ques- 
tion of  his  existence  to  the  class  of  philosophical  in- 
quiries, having  no  more  connection  with  human  con- 
duct, than  that  which,  was  formerly  a  problem  among 
the  learned,  now  resolved — whether  the  figure  of  the 
earth  be  oblong  or  oblate. 

"an  appendix. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  National  Gazette. 

"  Dear  Sir : — It  was  intended  to  insert  the  foregoing 
in  your  paper  some  days  ago;  but  there  has  been  a 
delay,  in  consequence  of  constructions  of  the  will  of 
Mr  Girard  widely  different  from  those  presumed  to 
be  evident  on  the  face  of  the  instrument.  It  is  af- 
firmed that  there  being  no  prohibition  of  the  lay  teach- 
ing of  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion  as  the 
foundation  of  morals,  the  absence  of  positive  provision 
is  no  proof  that  it  may  not  be  so  applied. 

"  Should  the  city  councils  adopt  such  a  construc- 
tion, nothing  can  be  further  from  your  correspondent, 
than  the  w-ish  to  apply  to  the  case  an  argument  bot- 
tomed on  so  different  a  view  of  the  will,  and  which 


246  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

may  be  perverted  to  an  intent  opposite  to  that  designed. 
Even  in  regard  to  certain  spiritual  functionaries  ex- 
cluded, it  may  be  questioned,  in  the  case  of  a  youth — 
say  between  fourteen  and  eighteen — in  distress  of  mind 
and  near  his  end,  v^ho  should  desire  a  visit  from  one  of 
them — it  may  even  be  from  one  w^ho  had  been  his 
father's  pastor — whether  the  prohibition  of  the  inter- 
view would  not  be  an  act  of  intolerance  unheard  of 
beyond  the  bounds  of  the  orphan  house.  Even  this 
difficulty  is  met  by  ingenious  interpretation. 

"  In  your  paper  of  this  evening  you  show  yourself 
favourable  to  liberal  constructions  of  the  above  descrip- 
tion. May  they  improve  the  features  of  the  scheme, 
if  it  should  go  into  operation :  but  be  assured  there 
will  not  be  wanting  those  who  will  clamour  for  an 
adherence  to  the  letter  of  the  will.  It  must  be  left  to 
the  consciences  of  the  honourable  bodies  concerned, 
whether  they  believe  in  the  correctness  of  the  latitude 
adopted  in  the  interpretation  of  it ;  and,  if  they  do  not, 
whether  they  will  take  on  themselves  the  awful  re- 
sponsibility of  the  rejection  of  religion,  as  the  founda- 
tion of  human  duty. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  respectfully, 

"A  Citizen  of  Philadelphia." 

The  language  of  the  will  gave  ground  for  the 
Bishop's  apprehensions  of  the  evils  likely  to  result 
from  the  execution  of  the  trust.  But  hope  may  be 
entertained  that,  in  practice,  they  may  not  be  pro- 
duced, at  least  in  the  extent  supposed.     The  corpora- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  247 

tion  of  this  city  accepted  the  trust  perhaps  wisely  : 
because  as  it,  being  charitable  and  moral,  could  not 
be  regarded  as  unlawful  on  account  of  its  defective- 
ness, the  execution  of  it  might,  on  the  refusal  of  the 
corporation  to  accept,  be  devolved  on  others  not  so 
well  disposed  to  guard,  as  effectually  as  their  powers 
would  enable  them,  against  the  apprehended  mischiefs. 
And  those  who  have  hitherto  had  the  charge  of  its 
execution — which  has  yet  advanced,  however,  no  fur- 
ther than  a  partial  preparation  of  the  necessary  build- 
ings— ^have  adopted  a  construction  of  the  will,  which, 
should  it  continue  to  be  adhered  to,  may  in  a  great 
degree  prevent  them.  The  clergy  are  indeed  exclud- 
ed from  the  institution;  but  there  is  no  direction  that 
the  pupils  may  not  receive  the  benefit  of  religious 
worship  and  instruction  elsewhere.  And  as  it  is  pro- 
vided that  moral  instruction  shall  be  given,  and  this 
cannot  be  fully  and  effectually  communicated,  unless 
morality  is  supported  by  religious  motives  and  prin- 
ciples, Christian  instruction  may  be  given  in  the 
institution,  though  not  by  the  instrumentality  of  the 
clergy.  The  Bishop,  notwithstanding,  was  convinced 
that,  if  this  was  a  reasonable  construction  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  will,  it  was  very  different  from  the  real 
views  of  the  testator. 

The  othej*  occasion,  before  alluded  to,  was  the  de- 
parture, in  the  spring  of  1835,  of  Messrs  Hanson  and 
Lockwood,  the  first  missionaries  to  China,  employed 
by  our  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society ;  an 
event  which  excited  an  extensive  and  lively  interest 


248  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

throughout  the  Church.  Instructions  to  the  mission- 
aries, relative  to  their  conduct  on  the  mission,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  usual  instructions  given  by  the  society, 
were  prepared  by  Dr  White,  its  president,  who  him- 
self partook  largely  of  the  interest  excited — were  pub- 
licly read  by  himself  to  the  missionaries,  at  a  meeting 
in  Philadelphia,  and  again  by  the  Rev.  Dr  Hawks, 
at  a  meeting  in  New  York,  on  the  occasion  of  their 
sailing  for  China — and  were  universally  admired  for 
the  vigour  of  mind,  prudence,  liberality  and  sound 
principles  manifested  in  them.  They  were  as  fol- 
lows : 

"additional  instructions  for  the  missionaries  to 

CHINA. 

"  May  29,  1835. 
"  Reverend  and  Dear  Brethren  : 

"With  this  there  will  be  delivered  to  you  printed 
letters  of  instruction,  which  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Bishop,  as  president  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  to  deliver 
to  each  of  the  missionaries  before  his  departure  to  the 
sphere  of  his  intended  labours.  So  far  as  personal 
piety,  a  correspondent  course  of  Christian  conduct, 
and  an  enlightened  zeal,  are  exacted  of  every  labourer 
in  the  field  before  us,  there  shall  be  no  addition  to  the 
document  referred  to.  But  as  in  the  land  of  your 
destination  there  are  some  strong  peculiarities  distin- 
guishing it  from  the  rest  of  the  unconverted  world, 
there  may  be  propriety  in  bringing  those  local  cir- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  249 

cnmstances  into  view.  You  are  aware  that  during 
some  ages  past  the  spiritual  condition  of  China  has 
resembled  an  iron  bound  coast ;  the  one  forbidding 
the  approach  of  ships,  and  the  other  excluding  all 
religious  improvement,  especially  that  to  be  brought 
about  by  publishing  the  contents  of  the  ever  blessed 
Gospel.  The  greater  is  our  cause  of  joy  occasioned 
by  late  well  authenticated  accounts  of  the  decrease  of 
prejudice ;  of  willingness  in  very  many  to  listen  to 
Gospel  truth ;  and  of  this  as  predicable  not  only  of 
provinces  near  to  the  ocean,  and  accessible  to  Euro- 
peans, but  extending  into  the  interior.  Here  are 
symptoms  of  preparations  for  a  change,  in  which  the 
w^orship  of  mortal  men*  and  of  gods  made  with  hands 
shall  be  superseded  by  the  acknowledgement  of  the 
one  true  God,  and  of  the  revelation  which  he  has 
made  of  himself  in  the  person  of  his  adorable  son. 

"  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  you  will  derive  aid  from  the 
labours  of  the  late  Dr  Morrison,  who  has  translated 
the  whole  of  the  Bible  into  the  Chinese  language. 
He  has  also  composed  a  grammar  and  a  dictionary, 
which  will  be  helps  to  you  in  making  yourselves 
acquainted  with  the  language.  This  w411  be  an  ob- 
ject of  your  concern,  and  not  the  least  difficult  part  of 
it.  You  cannot  too  soon  attain  to  this  preparation  for 
your  w^ork,  especially  as  it  is  essential  to  your  identi- 
fying yourselves  with  the  inhabitants  as  much  as  is 
proper  in  their  habits  and  manners,  which  is  said  to 

*     The  Grand  Lamas. 
W 


250  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

be  of  importance  toward  the  acquiring  of  their  confi- 
dence. Our  prospect  of  success  has  been  very  much 
brightened  by  what  has  been  given  to  the  world  on 
the  testimony  of  the  Reverend  Charles  Gutzlaff; 
whose  unwearied  endeavours,  and  the  success  of 
them,  have  offered  greater  encouragement  than  any 
before  imagined  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
Chinese.  The  achievements  of  this  zealous  herald  of 
the  cross  have  had  no  small  share  in  inciting  the 
present  effort  of  the  managers  of  the  Missionary 
Society  and  of  their  executive  committee,  and  may  be 
supposed  to  have  contributed  to  the  engaging  of  the 
two  missionaries  who  have  offered  themselves  to  the 
work.  There  might  be  introduced  the  names  of 
sundry  men  who  have  been  successfully  employed  in 
the  same ;  but  the  annunciation  of  their  services 
would  be  inconsistent  with  the  desired  brevity.  Their 
names  and  their  services,  however,  ought  to  be  fami- 
liar to  you  as  found  in  our  Missionary  Record,  in 
order  that  in  your  intercourse  with  them  you  may  be 
prepared  to  show  them  the  respect  due  in  proportion 
to  their  several  merits.  In  the  tie  which  binds  yoU 
to  the  Episcopal  church,  there  is  nothing  which  places 
you  in  the  attitude  of  hostility  to  men  of  any  other 
Christian  denomination,  and  much  which  should 
unite  you  in  affection  to  those  occupied  in  the  same 
cause  with  yourselves  You  should  rejoice  in  theii: 
successes,  and  avoid  as  much  as  possible  all  contro- 
versy, and  all  discussions  which  may  provoke  it,  on 
points  on  which  they  may  differ  from  our  communion, 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  251 

without  conforming  in  any  point  to  what  we  consider 
as  erroneous.     If  controversy  should  be  unavoidable, 
let  it  be  conducted  v/ith  entire  freedom  from  that  bit- 
terness of  spirit  and  that  severity  of  language  which 
cannot  serve  the  cause  of  God  under  any  circum- 
stances ;  while  in  the  sphere  which  you  will  occupy 
they  will  be  repulsive  from  a  religion  which  produces 
no  better  fruits  on  the  tempers  of  its  teachers.     In  the 
vicissitudes  of  European  commerce,  and  especially  in 
that  of  Canton,  you  will  find  many  who  speak  your 
language,  and  whose  object  is  the  pursuit  of  com- 
merce.    It  is  to  be  lamented  that  no  European  go- 
vernment has  sustained  even  the  appearance  of  divine 
worship  among  these  its  distant  subjects.     Perhaps 
they  may  show  themselves  indifterent  or  even  hostile 
to  your  design.     In  either  case  you  will  keep  the 
even  tenor  of  your  w^ay ;  not  moved  by  the  fear  or 
expectation  of  the  favour  of  men.     It  may  happen  in- 
cidentally to  your  ministry  that  some  of  these  tempo- 
rary residents  shall  be  brought  by  it  to  a  better  mind 
in  regard  '  to  the  things  which  belong  to  their  peace.' 
Especially  they  ought  to  be  cautioned  of  the  respon- 
sibility which  they  would  incur  by  discouragement 
of  the  endeavours  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen ; 
while,  under  notice  of  missionaries  employed  for  that 
purpose,  there  are  so  many  professing  the  same  faith, 
■  yet  Jiving  without  God  in  the  world.'     You  cannot  be 
ignorant  that  in  a  former  age  the  Christian  religion  was 
extensively  propagated  in  China ;  being  countenanced 
by  successive  emperors,  and  by  others  of  high  rank  in 


252  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

the  empire.  Neither  can  it  be  unknown  to  you  that 
this  was  succeeded  by  an  extensive  persecution  of  all 
who  owned  the  name  of  Christ.  It  is  certain  that  the 
change  arose  from  the  interference  of  the  decrees  of 
a  foreign  jurisdiction  with  immemorial  usages  of  the 
Chinese.  It  is  an  old  subject  of  debate  whether  those 
decrees  were  called  for  by  the  integrity  of  Christian 
truth.  Without  discussing  the  question  of  them,  the 
reason  of  noticing  them  is  to  remark,  that  in  reference 
to  foreign  jurisdiction  there  can  be  no  room  for  any 
difficulty  concerning  it  within  our  communion  ;  which 
holds  the  church  in  every  country  to  be  competent  to 
self-government  in  all  matters  left  to  human  discretion. 
No  faithful  minister  of  our  church  will,  in  any  in- 
stance, relax  a  requisition  of  the  Gospel,  in  accommo- 
dation to  unscriptural  prejudices  of  his  converts ;  but 
he  will  not  bind  them  in  any  chain  not  bound  on  them 
by  his  Master.  It  has  even  been  said  that  the  court 
of  Pekin  found  itself  in  danger  of  being  brought  under 
subjection  to  a  foreign  prelate.  In  proportion  to  the 
odium  of  such  a  charge,  the  converted  Chinese  should 
be  assured  of  safety  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  liberty 
'  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  them  free.' 

"  In  proposing  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion to  the  Chinese,  and  indeed  to  heathens  of  any 
description,  there  is  to  be  avoided  the  alternate  dan- 
ger, on  the  one  hand,  of  the  measuring  of  success  by 
any  excitement  of  sensibility,  which  may  be  short 
lived ;  and  on  the  other,  the  not  exhibiting  of  the  sub- 
ject in  such  a  point  of  view  as  shall  show  it  to  be  con- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  253 

genial  with  the  best  sensibilities  of  our  nature.  The 
ground  taken  by  the  apostles  must  certainly  be  that 
which  may  most  safely  be  taken  by  all  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel.  When  St  Peter  addressed  a  Jewish 
audience,  as  in  the  second  chapter  of  Acts,  he  laid  the 
stress  on  ancient  prophecy.  And  when  St  Paul  ad- 
dressed heathen  audiences,  as  in  sundry  passages  of 
the  same  book,  the  argument  used  by  him  was  the 
recent  miracle  of  the  resurrection.  These  are  points 
which  associate  themselves  with  the  liveliest  of  our 
hopes,  and  tend  to  the  excitement  of  our  best  affec- 
tions ;  yet  it  is  through  the  door  of  the  understanding 
that  truth  enters  in  order  to  the  taking  of  possession 
of  the  heart.  It  is  still  the  ground  of  prophecy  and 
of  miracles  on  which  the  truth  of  Christianity  must 
be  advocated ;  although  not  without  their  connection 
with  that  sinfulness  of  human  nature  to  which  the 
contents  of  the  Gospel  are  so  admirably  adapted ; 
laying  in  it  the  only  foundation  of  trust  in  the  pardon 
of  sin,  and  of  claim  of  deliverance  from  its  thraldom ; 
and  in  addition  being  fruitful  of  consolation,  and  a 
sure  guide  through  life,  and  a  stay  of  dependence  in 
the  hour  of  death  and  the  day  of  judgment.  Let  but 
these  interesting  subjects  take  possession  of  the  mind, 
and  its  natural  language  will  be,  '  What  shall  I  do  to 
be  saved  V 

"  When  the  Gospel  is  preached  to  a  heathen  at  the 

present  day,  we  ought  not  to  forget  to  extend  to  his 

case  that  forbearance  of  divine  mercy  which  St  Paul 

disclosed  when  he  said  to  the  Athenians,  'the  times 

w* 


254  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at.'  Even  when  we 
have  arrested  his  attention,  but  without  reaching  the 
point  of  his  conviction,  we  ought  not  to  be  hasty  in 
assuring  ourselves  that  there  may  not  be  wanting 
something  conciliatory  in  manner ;  or,  perhaps,  that 
there  may  be  something  repulsive  in  it.  We  ought 
therefore  to  wait  in  patience  for  more  auspicious 
moments,  and  not  rashly  conclude  that  there  is  a 
'  hating  of  the  light,  lest  the  deeds  should  be  reproved.' 
When  there  is  contemplated  the  aggregate  of  Chris- 
tian evidence ;  when  there  is  seen  that  through  the 
long  tract  of  four  thousand  years  there  was  a  chain  of 
history,  of  prophecy,  of  miracle  and  of  prefiguration, 
looking  forward  to  a  dispensation  to  be  disclosed  at 
the  end  of  that  portion  of  time ;  when  it  is  seen  that 
there  was  then  manifested  the  great  sacrifice  w^hich 
fulfilled  all  that  had  gone  before ;  and  when  there  is 
read  the  record  of  a  sacrifice  commemorative  of  the 
same,  to  be  perpetuated  until  the  second  coming  of 
the  divine  Ordainer,  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  world  : 
it  is  a  mass  of  proof,  which,  properly  presented,  will 
command  the  assent  of  unbiassed  men  in  all  times 
and  places ;  progressing  in  its  influence  to  the  pro- 
mised issue,  when  '  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world 
shall  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  Christ.' 

"  These  suggestions,  our  missionary  brethren,  might 
be  carried  on  to  an  indefinite  extent.  But  they  shall 
be  concluded  with  prayer  for  your  prosperity,  and  for 
your  success  in  the  great  work  before  you  ;  and  with 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  255 

the  hope  that  now  is  the  time,  when  there  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  verifying  of  the  promise,  'from  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  until  the  going  down  of  the  same, 
my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles.' 

"  There  seem  indications  of  this  in  the  efforts  lately 
put  forth  for  the  evangelizing  of  the  world,  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  former  days,  which  were  by  war 
and  persecution.  Those  now  employed  are  in  the 
spirit  of  which  we  read  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 
the  Apocalypse  (v.  6),  of  'an  angel  flying  in  the 
midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to 
preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to 
every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people.' 
This  splendid  image  is  introduced  immediately  before 
the  denunciation  of  the  fall  of  mystic  Babylon,  and 
as  there  are  signs  of  the  times  pointing  to  that  crisis, 
the  passage  may  reasonably  be  interpreted  of  what  is 
immediately  to  precede,  rather  than  is  done  by  some 
of  the  reformation :  a  blessed  event,  but,  in  the  esti- 
mation of  him  who  addresses  you,  not  of  so  great  an 
extent,  nor  so  happily  answering  in  point  of  time  to 
the  terms  of  the  passage,  as  the  interpretation  which 
has  been  long  entertained  by  him  who  now  presents 
it  with  diffidence,  and  with  submission  to  maturer 
judgments.* 

"  Once  more,  reverend  and  dear   brethren,  with 


*  It  seems  further  from  the  mark  to  interpret  the  passage  of  the 
VValdenses  and  the  Albigenses,  and  of  the  other  early  witnesses  so  dis- 
tant in  point  of  time. 


256  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

prayer  for  the  divine  blessing  on  your   missionary 
labours, 

"  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

"  Wm  white, 

"  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania." 

By  the  general  convention  of  1835,  Bishop  White 
and  Dr  Hawks  M^ere  appointed  a  committee  to  apply, 
in  the  name  of  the  convention,  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  and  other  persons  and  insti- 
tutions in  England,  for  documents  possessed  by  them 
illustrative  of  the  early  history  of  our  Church,  or 
copies  thereof,  for  the  use  of  the  church  in  this  country. 
Dr  Haw^ks  proceeded  to  London,  and  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  applications  and  researches.  He  took 
Avith  him  letters  from  Bishop  White  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  the  Bishop  of  London.  That  to 
the  archbishop  was  as  follows ; 

"Philadelphia,  March  17,  1836. 
"  My  Lord  Archbishop: 

"  Your  grace  will  pardon  the  liberty  taken  by  a 
stranger,  on  finding  that  his  object  has  a  bearing  on 
the  ecclesiastical  literature  of  a  church  which  claims 
its  descent  from  the  church  in  w^hich  jour  grace  pre- 
sides. 

"  The  bearer  of  this  letter  is  the  Reverend  Francis 
L.  Hawks,  D.D.,  rector  of  St  Thomas's  church  in  the 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  257 

city  of  New  York  :  who  has  been  much  occupied  in 
the  collection  of  documents  relative  to  the  history  of 
the  Episcopal  churches  in  these  United  States.  In 
prosecution  of  the  design  he  is  now  preparing  to  visit 
England,  under  the  expectation  of  finding  in  that 
kingdom  many  records,  to  which  access  may  be  had, 
if  his  views  should  be  favoured  by  your  grace  in  your 
archiepiscopal  character,  and  in  that  of  president  of 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

"  We  trust  that  while  one  fruit  of  the  labours  of 
this  gentleman,  will  be  the  perpetuating  of  the  ac- 
counts of  the  origin  of  our  communion,  another  will 
be  the  doing  of  justice  to  our  parent  church,  in  the 
recording  of  the  aids  furnished  to  her  progeny  in  their 
colonial  state. 

"  By  the  general  convention  of  the  American  Church 
in  August  last  there  was  appointed  a  committee,  con- 
sisting of  their  presiding  bishop  and  Dr  Hawks,  for 
the  furthering  of  the  present  object.  Evidence  of  this 
appointment  may  be  seen  at  the  one  hundredth  page 
of  the  journal,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  delivered  with 
this  letter. 

"  Being  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  the  Episcopal  succes- 
sion, received  by  me  from  the  hands  of  one  of  the 
predecessors  of  your  grace,  the  venerable  Archbishop 
Moore,  whose  attentions  and  courtesies  I  remember 
with  gratitude,  I  cannot  be  much  longer  efficient  in 
endeavours  to  raise  our  church  from  the  desolation, 
almost  amounting  to  annihilation,  in  which  she  was 
left  by  the  war  of  the  revolution.     But  it  is  in  the 


258  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

pursuit  of  the  object  to  which  my  labours  have  been 
so  long  directed,  that  I  solicit  the  condescension  of 
your  grace  to  the  contents  and  the  request  of  this 
letter ;  being,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  Grace's  very  humble  servant, 

"Wm  WHITE. 
"To  the  Most  Reverend  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury." 

An  interesting  letter  to  the  Bishop  from  Dr  Hawks, 
on  the  subject  of  his  mission,  written  not  long  after 
his  arrival  in  London,  was  received  in  Philadelphia,  a 
day  or  two  after  the  Bishop's  death ;  the  greater  part 
of  which  appears  appropriate  to  the  design  of  this 
memoir,  and  is  therefore  inserted. 

"  London,  May  24,  1836. 
"  Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  : 

"  In  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties  confided  to  us  by 
the  general  convention,  in  the  matter  of  collecting  all 
procurable  documents  w^hich  may  illustrate  the  early 
history  of  our  church,  I  have  made  my  contemplated 
voyage,  and  now  write  to  communicate  to  you  the 
result  of  my  mission.  I  waited  first  upon  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  with  your  letter  and  a  copy  of 
the  journal  of  the  last  general  convention.  I  was  re- 
ceived with  great  courtesy  and  indeed  kindness  of 
manner,  and  found  in  his  grace  one  of  the  humblest 
and  most  unpretending  of  men.  He  had  been  apprised 
of  my  arrival,  and  of  the  object  of  my  visit,  by  one  of 
his  clergy,  to  whom  I  had  letters,  and  vv^ho  had  seen 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  259 

my  testimonials.  I  cannot  better  describe  the  scene 
which  followed  than  by  sending  you  a  copy  of  my 
memoranda  of  our  conversation,  made  upon  my  return 
home.     After  the  first  salutations  I  began  : 

*' '  Your  grace,  I  believe,  has  already  been  informed 
by  Mr  Norris  of  the  general  object  of  my  visit  to 
England.  This  letter  from  the  senior  bishop  of  the 
American  Church  will  more  particularly  explain  the 
nature  of  my  mission. ' 

"  '  Ah,  this  then  is  the  handwriting  of  good  Bishop 
White  :  I  hope  he  is  well.' 

"  '  He  was  well,  my  lord,  when  I  left  America.' 

"  (He  then  began  to  read  the  letter  silently.)  After 
a  short  time,  he  said,  '  How  old  is  the  good  Bishop 
now  V 

"  '  In  his  eighty-ninth  year,  my  lord.' 

"  (Towards  the  close  he  began  to  read  aloud,  and 
continued  so  to  read  to  the  end.)  He  then  said,  '  How 
beautifully  he  has  expressed  himself — he  is  a  vene- 
rable man.' 

"  '  And,  I  assure  your  grace,  beloved  as  well  as  ven- 
erated by  the  Church  in  America.' 

"  '  No  doubt  of  it.  Well,  I  think  there  must  be 
much  in  the  library  here  which  will  be  valuable  to 
you,  and  every  thing  is  at  your  service.  The  records 
of  the  Venerable  Society  must  also  contain  a  great 
deal  of  information.  I  know  that  there  are  some  MSS. 
in  the  library  here  touching  America,  but  I  have 
never  been  able  to  examine  them  particularly,  for  I 
have  but  little  time.     We  have  a  catalogue  of  our 


260  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

MSS.,  which  I  will  show  you.'  (Here  he  rose  to 
get  it.) 

"  '  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr  Norris  I  have  seen 
a  copy  of  that  catalogue,  and  examined  it  most  care- 
fully; it  offers  very  many  valuable  papers  to  our 
purpose,  if,  through  the  kindness  of  your  grace,  we 
may  obtain  access  to  them.' 

"  '  Oh  that  you  shall  have  most  cheerfully.' 

"  (I  then  handed  him  the  copy  of  the  journal ;  and, 
in  reply  to  his  question  about  the  constitution  of  our 
church,  explained  to  him  in  few  words  our  system  of 
government,  &c. ;  and  expressing  the  sense  of  obliga- 
tion which  we  felt  in  America  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land for  having  planted  and  so  long  sustained  us.  I 
added  that  the  present  condition  of  our  communion 
was  an  honourable  monument  to  the  zeal  and  piety 
of  the  Church  of  England ;  and  we  were  anxious  to 
tell  the  world  our  story ;  because  we  hoped  that, 
among  other  things,  it  would  be  unsolicited  testimony 
to  the  excellency  of  the  parent  church,  and  well-timed 
as  coming  when  she  was  assailed  by  a  strange  combi- 
nation of  those  who  were  heretofore  enemies  to  her 
and  to  each  other.  I  said  that  the  Venerable  Society 
might  point  to  our  present  prosperity,  and  challenge 
any  other  missionary  society  to  show  equal  fruits  of 
its  labours.) 

'' '  I  am  very  happy  to  hear  of  the  prosperity  of 
the— Episcopal  Church  in  America  ;  I  was  going  to 
say  of  the  Church,  for  such  (it  may  be  from  my  old 
fashioned  notions)  I  cannot  help  considering  her.     I 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  261 

do  not  mean  to  say  that  those  without  episcopacy  are 
not  churches,  but  they  are  irregular  ones,  by  their 
departure  from  primitive  usage.  A  history  of  your 
church  would  be  very  interesting  :  I  hope  it  will  be 
written.' 

"  *  Bishop  White  has  written,  my  lord,  an  account 
of  our  general  history  since  the  revolution ;  and  I 
hope,  ere  long,  to  put  a  copy  into  the  hands  of  your 
grace'  (and  then  I  was  obliged  to  tell  him  that  I  was 
at  work,  and  had  published  the  volume,  on  the  Vir- 
ginia Church). 

" '  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  them  both,  and  always 
pleased  to  render  any  service  in  my  power  to  the 
American  Church.  And  now  let  me  see  how  I  can 
aid  you.  I  must  bring  you  into  communication  with 
Mr  Rose'  (the  Reverend  Hugh  James  Rose,  his  chap- 
lain, and  he  sent  a  servant  for  him). 

"  When  Mr  Rose  entered,  he  introduced,  me,  and 
explained  my  business,  and  immediately  arranged 
with  Mr  Rose  for  affording  me  access  at  all  times, 
and  every  desirable  facility  in  my  researches.  '  Now,' 
said  he,  '  I  must  help  you  further ;  you  shall  have 
all  you  wish  from  the  records  of  the  Venerable  So- 
ciety; and  you  must  search  the  British  Museum,  for 
there  is  a  great  deal  about  America.  I  will  give  you 
the  necessary  introduction  there  at  once.'  Accord- 
ingly he  wTote  a  note  to  Sir  Henry  Ellice  and  Mr 
Torshall — the  principal  and  second  librarians.  When 
he  handed  me  the  notes,  he  rose,  and  I  took  it  as  a 
signal  to  withdraw.     I  rose  also,  and  said — '  It  only 

X 


262  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

remains  that,  m  the  name  of  the  Episcopal  Church  m 
America,  I  should  thank  your  grace  for  the  ready 
kindness  with  which  you  have  met  their  washes,  and 
which  I  will  not  fail,  my  lord,  properly  to  represent 
to  them.' 

"  '  I  shall  be  happy  to  serve  them  in  this  matter, 
and  shall  hope,  sir,  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you 
again.'  He  then  shook  hands  with  me,  and  I  with- 
drew. 

"  I  then  proceeded  to  call  on  the  Bishop  of  London, 
but  did  not  see  his  lordship.  The  next  day  I  again 
called  at  his  residence,  and  left  my  letters,  &lc.,  but 
could  not  see  him  as  he  was  sick;  since  which  time 
he  has  been  almost  dead.  He  is  now  recovering.  I 
have  access  however  to  all  that  he  could  furnish. 
Next  I  went  to  the  British  Museum  ;  and  there  the 
archbishop's  note  made  me  as  it  were  free  of  the 
whole  house.  All  w^ere  thrown  open  to  me.  Next  I 
went  to  the  Venerable  Society,  and  they  again  placed 
in  my  hands  treasures  indeed  well  worth  the  trouble 
of  my  voyage.  In  about  forty  volumes  of  MSS.  I 
found  all  the  original  letters  of  our  missionaries  ah 
initio,  with  memorials,  governors'  letters,  &c.,  furnish- 
ing a  mass  of  information  beyond  my  most  sanguine 
hopes.  These  they  put  into  my  possession  to  have 
what  copies  made  I  pleased.  Finally,  through  the 
kindness  of  the  Reverend  Thomas  Hartwell  Home,  I 
obtained  access  to  the  library  of  Sion  College,  where 
there  are  several  valuable  MSS.  of  Dr  Bray's.  I  am 
now  examining   the   MSS.   of  the   Society,  having 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  263 

finished  those  at  Lambeth,  and  have  as  many  clerks 
employed  in  copying  as  I  can  get.  I  hope  to  bring 
home  many  folios  of  transcripts  of  deep  interest  and 
importance  to  our  communion,  and  will  leave  nothing 
behind  me  really  valuable,  unless  my  funds  fail  to 
pay  for  transcribing.  I  am  working  very  hard,  read- 
ing MSS.  night  and  day,  and  shall  be  glad  when  I 
can  leave  London  to  examine  the  libraries  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  where  I  have  agents  now  at  work. 
Bishop  Doane  expressed  much  interest  in  the  ends  of 
my  mission  the  day  before  I  left  New  York ;  and  I 
must  therefore  request  that  when  you  see  him  you 
will  communicate  what  I  have  written.  Do  not, 
however,  let  any  thing  (save  of  a  general  character) 
be  printed;  because  we  shall  make  a  detailed  report  to 
the  general  convention,  which  will  be  put  upon  our 
journals.* 

''  Very  respectfully  and  affectionately, 

"  Your  son  and  servant  in  the  Church, 

'' FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS." 


*  When  this  memoir  was  first  prepared,  and  was  expected  to  be  im- 
mediately published,  this  letter  was  not  inserted.  But  Dr  Hawks  ha? 
since  made  his  report  to  the  general  convention  of  1838.  It  may  be 
found  in  the  appendix  to  the  journal  of  that  body.  A  letter  from  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  dated  Lambeth,  the  1st  of  August  1836,  is 
appended  to  it,  containing  the  following  postscript  (pp.  134,  135)  : 

"  P.S.  I  have  been  exceedingly  gratified  by  Bishop  White's  atten- 
tion in  sending  me  the  second  edition  of  his  Memoirs  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  The  work  is  more 
than   ordinarily  valuable   as  an  authentic  record  of  transactions  of  the 


264  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

The  last  piece  written  by  Bishop  White  was  a  short 
essay  "  On  Wanderings  in  Prayer,"  composed  a  few 
days  before  his  last  illness,  and  published  in  the  '*  Pro- 
testant Episcopalian."  It  will,  for  this  as  well  as 
other  reasons,  be  interesting;  and  is  inserted  in  the 
Appendix.* 

The  Bishop,  during  his  long  life,  had  been  provi- 
dentially blessed  with  excellent  health,  very  seldom 
interrupted  by  attacks  of  sickness  or  by  accidents. 
His  constitution  was  naturally  firm ;  and  was  pre- 
served in  vigour  by  exercise  and  a  regular  course  of 
life.  But  his  existence  now  drew  to  its  close.  In 
June  1836  he  had  a  severe  attack  of  sickness,  which 
occasioned  much  uneasiness ;  but  from  it  he  recovered, 
and  was  again  enabled  to  attend  to  official  duties ; 
and  even  appeared  to  have  acquired  more  vigour  than 
he  possessed  previous  to  the  attack.      On  the  last 

highest  importance  to  the  American  Cliurch,  and  as  a  lasting  memorial 
of  the  truly  Christian  principles,  temper  and  conduct  of  the  venerable 
persons,  American  and  English,  by  whose  prudence  and  piety  the  pro- 
ceedings were  brought  to  a  happy  issue.  I  trust  that  the  relation  thus 
providentially  established  between  the  two  Churches  will  subsist  unim- 
paired, and  will  be  acknowledged  by  mother  and  daughter  with  senti- 
ments of  mutual  respect  and  affection  to  the  end  of  the  world.  To  the 
venerable  prelate  who  may  be  regarded  as,  in  more  senses  than  one,  the 
father  of  your  Episcopal  Church,  I  request  you  to  convey  my  warm  and 
sincere  congratulations  on  his  having  been  preserved  by  a  gracious  Pro- 
vidence to  rejoice  in  the  success  of  his  labours,  and  in  the  prospect  of  a 
still  brighter  futurity.  That  his  most  sanguine  hopes  may  be  realized, 
and  that  the  evening  of  a  life  devoted  to  the  service  of  God,  and  the 
benefit  of  mankind,  may  be  unclouded  with  pain  or  sorrow  is  my  earnest 
prayer." 

*     Appendix,  No.  X. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  265 

Sunday  in  that  month,  when  he  preached  for  the  last 
time  at  St  Peter's,  it  was  remarked  that  he  delivered 
the  discourse  with  greater  energy,  strength  of  voice 
and  effect,  than  had  been  for  a  long  time  usual  with 
him.  The  consecration  of  the  bishop  elect  of  Michi- 
gan (Reverend  S.  A.  M'Coskry)  was  soon  to  take 
place ;  on  which  occasion  Dr  White  was  expected 
to  preside  and  preach.  But  during  the  night  of 
the  2d  of  July,  having  risen  from  bed,  he  fell  with 
some  violence  on  the  floor ;  for  which  no  cause  could 
be  discovered,  except  mere  weakness.  And  though 
he  did  not  appear  to  have  received  any  internal  in- 
jury, but  only  some  outward  bruises,  yet  his  physical 
powers  w^ere  weakened,  and  gradually  failed.  His 
son,  who  slept  in  the  same  chamber,  being  roused  by 
his  fall,  replaced  him  in  bed,  from  which  he  did 
not  again  rise.  His  strength  gradually  decayed, 
without  pain  or  uneasiness,  until  his  dissolution  took 
place  on  the  17th  of  July.  Though  his  mind  was  in 
some  measure  affected  by  the  decay  of  his  bodily 
powers,  he  preserved  the  possession  of  it  to  the  last ; 
except  that  on  a  few  occasions  it  appeared  to  wander, 
and  by  the  movements  of  his  hands  he  seemed  to 
suppose  himself  engaged  in  the  performance  of  some 
episcopal  office.  But  at  other  times  he  recognized 
every  friend  who  visited  him,  and  conversed  with 
them,  though  briefly  and  w4th  difficulty.  He  was 
fully  aware  of  his  condition,  and  evidently  viewed 
it  with  the  composure  which  might  be  expected  from 
the  w^hole  tenor  of  his  life ;  from  his  having  long  and 

X* 


'^66  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

habitually  fixed  his  thoughts  on  his  approaching  de- 
parture ;  and  from  the  evenness  and  moderation  of 
his  disposition  and  feelings.  His  end  was  therefore 
marked  by  the  serenity,  and  by  the  deep-seated  and 
sweetly  calm  religious  consolation  and  trust  in  the 
mercy  of  God  through  the  Redeemer,  which  were  in 
perfect  consistency  with  his  own  declared  principles 
of  religion,  and  with  the  uniform  character  of  his 
feelings,  conversation  and  life.  There  was  nothing  of 
elation  in  his  manner  or  language.  At  no  period  of 
his  life  had  he  been  disposed  to  speak  of  the  influences 
of  religion  upon  himself.  That  his  heart  and  conduct 
were  controlled  and  regulated  by  its  principles  w^as 
undoubted.  But  the  inclinations  and  feelingfs  which 
w^ere  the  result  were  always  of  that  retired  and  unob- 
trusive kind  which  fill  and  satisfy  the  soul,  while  (in 
the  language  of  Scripture)  "with  them  a  stranger  in- 
ter meddleth  not. ' '  They  were  manifested  only  by  their 
fruits.  This  reluctance  to  make  them  the  subjects  of 
conversation  is  far  from  being  cause  of  doubt  of  their 
existence  or  power.  The  deepest  and  strongest  feel- 
ings are  less  apt  than  others  to  vent  themselves  in 
words,  or  to  excite  the  desire  of  making  them  subjects 
of  discourse.  Besides,  his  aversion  to  every  thing 
approaching  to  self  display  led  him,  from  principle, 
to  avoid  this  course.  Such  being  his  previous  views 
and  dispositions,  they  still  continued,  as  might  natu- 
rally be  expected,  to  influence  him  during  his  last 
illness.  He  w^as  not  disposed,  of  his  own  accord,  to 
speak  concerning  the  state  of  his  mind,  his  expecta- 


f^  ^ 
p 


y 


Gg 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  267 

tions  or  consolations.  It  was  only  in  reply  to  some 
remarks  made  to  him  by  Bishops  Doane  and  M'Cos- 
kry,  who  were  attending  him,  that  he  spoke  at  all 
upon  the  subject.  But  then  he  fully  expressed,  with 
crreater  warmth  and  animation  than  it  was  believed 
his  weakness  would  have  allowed,  and  than  was  usual 
with  him,  his  reliance  upon  the  merits  of  the  Re- 
deemer alone  for  acceptance ;  and  the  comfort,  the 
"  charming"  gratification,  of  being  enabled  to  trust  in 
the  divine  goodness,  and  to  realize  the  protecting  care 
of  God  in  life  and  in  death. 

The  illness  and  danger  of  the  Bishop  were  known 
extensively  through  the  different  dioceses ;  and  "prayer 
was  made  without  ceasing  of  the  Church  unto  God 
for  him."  On  Sunday,  the  17th  of  July,  between 
eleven  and  twelve  o'clock,  A.  M.,  during  the  morning 
worship  of  the  Church,  and  soon  after  the  prayer  had 
as  usual  been  offered  for  him — and  probably  at  the 
very  time  when,  from  some  of  the  churches,  it  was 
ascendino^  on  his  behalf  before  the  throne  of  God — 
surrounded  by  his  own  family,  composed  of  his  son, 
his  only  surviving  child,  and  his  grandchildren,  who 
had  paid  to  him  unwearied  attention  (his  other  friends 
who  were  usually  with  him  having  gone  to  attend  the 
public  worship),  he  expired  without  a  sigh  or  groan, 
so  calmly,  that  the  period  of  his  dissolution  could  not 
be  marked  by  his  attendants.* 

*  The  Bishop's  death  took  place  at  his  dwelling-house,  in  Walnut 
Street,  No.  89,  above  Third  Street.  It  had  been  his  residence  since  his 
return  from  England,  in  1787,  after  his  consecration — more  than  fifty 
years. 


268  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

His  death,  having  been  long  contemplated  in  conse- 
quence of  his  great  age,  and  for  some  time  looked  for, 
could  not  cause  strong  emotion ;  but  it  produced, 
throughout  the  whole  community,  deep  regret  and 
solemn  feeling.  Perhaps  another  instance  has  scarcely 
occurred,  in  which  these  were  manifested  in  equal 
degree  and  extent,  on  account  of  the  death  of  a  man 
who  had  not  held  any  very  prominent  public  station, 
or  been  engaged  in  employments  usually  attracting 
popular  regard  and  commendation;  but  had  passed  a 
long  life  in  performing  the  unobtrusive  duties  of  the 
sacred  office,  in  the  same  diocese  and  parish.  They 
were  caused  solely  by  reverence  and  attachment  for 
the  man.  On  the  day  of  his  funeral,  there  was  vo- 
luntarily a  general  suspension  of  business.  In  parti- 
cular, the  stores  were  for  the  most  part  closed  in  the 
streets  through  which  the  procession  was  to  pass,  as 
were  many  also  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  The  pub- 
lic authorities,  the  various  literary,  charitable  and 
religious  bodies,  the  clergy  and  members  of  the  differ- 
ent Christian  churches,  united  in  paying  respect  to 
his  memory.  And  the  good  order  and  silence  of  the 
many  thousands  who  thronged  the  streets,  besides  the 
great  number  composing  the  funeral  procession,  were 
a  striking  manifestation  of  the  public  sentiments. 
He  was  interred  in  his  family  vault  at  Christ  Church, 
on  Wednesday,  the  20th  of  July. 

From  the  nature  of  the  Bishop's  employments  and 
course  of  life,  it  could  not  be  expected,  however  de- 
sirable and  satisfactory  it  might  be,  that  his  character 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  269 

should  be  fully  exhibited  by  the  detail  of  the  incidents 
and  actions  of  his  life.  It  may,  indeed,  be  perceived, 
in  a  considerable  degree,  from  the  preceding  memoirs 
of  them.  But  it  will  be  proper  here  to  collect  toge- 
ther its  various  features,  and  complete  the  representa- 
tion. I  am  deeply  conscious  of  my  inability  to  do  it 
justice — to  delineate  it  in  any  good  degree  equal  to 
its  real  beauty  and  excellence.  Yet  an  humble  at- 
tempt will  be  made.  My  opportunities  of  forming  a 
judgment  of  it  have  been  favourable;  as  I  have  had 
the  advantages  of  an  intimacy  with  him  from  my 
childhood — of  having  been  brought  up  under  his  pas- 
toral care — of  being  favoured,  during  many  years, 
with  his  friendship — and  for  the  last  nineteen  years  of 
his  life,  elapsed  since  my  application  for  orders,  of 
having  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  official  as  well  as  friendly 
intercourse.  Perhaps  from  several  of  these  circum- 
stances, the  existence  of  a  too  partial  bias  may  be  sus- 
pected: yet,  it  is  believed,  without  foundation;  and 
no  fear  is  entertained,  that  in  the  community  in  which 
he  was  best  known,  the  delineation  to  be  given  will 
be  called  a  panegyric,  or  be  thought  to  contain  any 
undue  commendation.  The  endeavour  wall  be  to 
present  it  with  perfect  simplicity  and  truth. 

His  principles  and  conduct,  in  reference  to  the  or- 
ganization and  government  of  the  Church,  may  be 
sufficiently  understood  from  the  account  already  given. 
This  part  of  his  character,  from  its  nature,  may  be 
fully  exhibited  by  the  facts  relating  to  the  part  which 
he  took  on  those  subjects;  and  could  in  no  other  way 


270  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

be  satisfactorily  illustrated.  But  it  is  otherwise  witli 
respect  to  those  features  of  it  which  were  formed  by 
his  personal,  domestic,  social,  civil  and  ministerial 
qualities  and  course  of  life.  Of  them  an  outline  must 
be  given. 

His  temper  and  inclinations  were  early  formed  and 
moulded,  under  the  influence  of  religious  principles 
and  habits.  So  soon  in  life  did  these  begin  their  ope- 
ration, through  maternal  care,  for  which  he  always 
felt  and  often  expressed  his  obligations,  that  no  evi- 
dence exists  of  what  may  have  been,  independently  on 
that  operation,  his  natural  propensities  and  disposi- 
tions. As  a  child,  as  a  boy,  as  a  man,  he  was  noted 
for  his  goodness.  He  appeared,  indeed,  to  be  consti- 
tutionally calm,  moderate  and  benevolent:  so  that  it 
has  been  supposed  that  he  had  little  to  overcome  by 
the  aid  and  influence  of  religion:  a  conclusion  not 
warranted  by  the  fact  that  such  was  the  character 
which  he  evidently  possessed  from  a  very  early  period 
of  life.  For  this  was  a  consequence  of  the  timely  and 
deep  impressions  of  religious  truth  on  his  heart. 
And  indications  might  occasionally  be  observed  of 
feelings,  which,  had  they  not  been  subjected  to  such 
influences,  might  have  led  to  the  formation  of  a  differ- 
ent character.  Such  were  the  uniform  respect  and 
affection  for  him,  and  such  the  consequent  exemption 
from  inimical  opposition  and  other  causes  of  irritation, 
that  he  was  seldom  exposed  to  incidents  w^hich  rouse 
angry  or  resentful  feelings.  Yet  on  the  few  occasions 
of  this  kind  which  did  occur,  he  manifested  a  keen 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  271 

sense  of  unmerited  censure  or  injurious  treatment, 
though  controlled  and  regulated  by  the  superior  power 
of  religious  principle ;  which  enabled  him  to  preserve 
a  truly  Christian  deportment,  even  under  considerable 
provocation. 

From  the  same  temperament  of  his  mind  and  con- 
stitution, his  religious  feelings  appeared  calm  and 
moderate,  and  destitute  of  that  ardour  and  strength 
which  are,  by  many,  thought  the  necessary  accompa- 
niments and  indications  of  a  true  and  effective  know- 
ledge and  experience  of  the  transforming  influence  of 
religious  truth.  But,  though  calm  and  moderate,  they 
were  deeply  seated,  sincere,  steady,  serene.  There  is 
the  less  reason  to  question  their  reality  and  power, 
from  the  circumstance  that,  in  matters  not  immedi- 
ately connected  with  religion,  his  feelings  were  of  the 
like  character.  They  were  not  ardent  or  violent  on 
such  subjects  or  occasions,  while  they  w^ere  found  to 
be  cool  and  moderate  on  those  of  religion :  which 
might  perhaps  justify  a  belief  that  they  were  not  ge- 
nuine, in  the  latter  case.  As  displayed  in  his  social, 
domestic,  and  most  intimate  and  friendly  intercourse, 
they  were  of  the  same  kind.  Throughout  the  whole, 
there  was  complete  and  beautiful  consistency. 

With  respect  to  those  religious  feelings  which  are 
produced  by  a  deep  sense  of  actual  sinfulness,  and 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  should,  at  least  in  the 
commencement  of  the  Christian  life,  and  as  introduc- 
tory to  a  more  happy  state  of  mind,  be  strong  and  har- 
assing, and  even  approaching  to  gloom  and  despon- 


272  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

dency,  the  Bishop  does  not  appear  to  have  experienced 
them.  But  is  this  a  cause  for  doubting  the  truly 
evangehcal  character  of  his  own  personal  religion? 
Can  the  same  feelings  be  expected  from  men  of 
widely  different  characters  and  conduct? — from  those 
who  have  long  lived  in  neglect  of  religious  dutv, 
or  perhaps  in  profligate  violation  of  it,  until  ar- 
rested in  their  sinful  course  by  the  alarms  of  con- 
science; and  those  who  have  early  yielded  themselves 
willingly  to  the  sweet  influence  of  Christianity,  and 
the  guidance  of  the  spirit  of  God,  and  have  conse- 
quently always  principally  directed  their  view,  and 
exerted  their  endeavours  to  secure  the  favour  and  ap- 
probation of  the  Deity  through  the  merits  of  the  Re- 
deemer? Or  is  it  found  by  experience,  that  the  divine 
methods  of  bringing  men  from  their  natural  sinful 
state,  to  one  of  devotion  of  themselves  to  his  service, 
are  in  all  cases  the  same,  instead  of  being  almost  infi- 
nitely varied  according  to  the  varied  characters  and 
circumstances  of  the  objects  of  his  mercy  ?  Reason, 
supported  by  the  principles  and  examples  of  Scrip- 
ture, would  lead  to  the  opinion,  that  it  is  impossible, 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  cases,  that  the  same  com- 
punctions of  conscience  should  be  experienced  by  one 
who  had  pursued  the  course  of  life  which  distinguished 
Bishop  White;  and  one  who  had  been  guilty  of  gross 
violations  of  duty,  or  had  long  lived  in  habits  of  actual 
sin  voluntarily  indulged,  or  weakly  yielded  to  without 
resistance.  There  would,  indeed,  it  is  fully  admitted 
and  thought  to  be  an  essential  truth  of  the  Christian 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  273 

religion,  be  great  cause  for  deep  sensibility,  in  the 
former  characters  as  well  as  in  the  latter,  of  the  evil 
of  sin,  of  the  strong  natural  propensity  of  men  to 
commit  it,  and  of  their  actual  transgressions;  and  of 
the  consequent  duty  of  all  to  humble  themselves  be- 
fore the  throne  of  mercy.  But  of  this  Dr  White  was 
fully  sensible.  None  was  further  than  he  was  from 
admitting  any  reliance  whatever  on  human  merit, 
either  as  a  principle  of  Christian  doctrine,  or  as  ap- 
plied to  his  own  case.  His  religion  was  truly  humble. 
However  justly  he  might  have  claimed  a  superiority 
in  moral  and  religious  merit  above  the  great  body, 
and  almost  the  wd^ole  of  his  fellow  men — a  superiority 
very  commonly  confessed  wherever  he  was  known — 
yet  he  himself  was  little  disposed  to  draw  even  this 
comparison.  And  when  he  regarded  the  light  in 
which  he  stood  before  the  holy  and  all-perfect  Beino- 
to  whom  he  was  accountable,  he  felt  and  acknowledged 
unworthiness — abandoned  all  dependence  on  his  own 
deserts — and  looked  for  pardon  and  acceptance  only 
through  the  atonement  made  by  the  Saviour  for  the . 
sins  of  the  world. 

Were  I  allowed — and  my  long  and  intimate  know- 
ledge and  observation  of  him  may  perhaps  be  admitted 
to  justify  the  claim — were  I  allowed  to  characterize 
his  religious  feelings,  and  to  attribute  them  to  their 
true  source,  I  could  not  avoid  pronouncing  them  to  be 
of  that  submissive,  steady,  sweetly  serene  and  conso- 
latory kind,  which  the  Gospel  encourages  us  to  expect 
from  such  an  advancement  as  he  had  made,  through 


274  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

divine  grace,  towards  the  attainment  of  the  "perfect 
love  which  casteth  out  fear." 

On  this  subject  is  subjoined  a  just  and  beautiful 
passage  from  the  sermon  delivered  by  Bishop  H.  U. 
Onderdonk,  at  the  funeral.  "  The  distinguished  fa- 
ther in  the  Church  over  whose  remains"  the  reflec- 
tions now  offered  you  "have  been  uttered,  was  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  and  perfect  examples  of  the  kind 
of  piety  which  approaches  to  innocence,  and  which 
consequently  manifests  but  little  of  the  emotion  that 
springs,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  a  consciousness  of 
deep  sin.  Amid  all  his  points  of  eminence, — and 
many  such  were  his— this  was  the  greatest  eminence 
of  all.  He  was  eminent  as  the  minister  of  religion  in 
the  councils  which  gave  liberty  to  his  country ;  and 
as  the  friend  and  the  pastor  of  Washington.  He  was 
eminent  as,  through  a  long  life,  the  centre  of  affection 
to  a  large  community,  without  a  foe  or  an  evil  wisher 
at  any  time,  but  beloved  and  revered  by  all.  He  was 
eminent  as  one  of  our  first  bishops;  for  nearly  fifty 
years  the  bishop  of  this  diocese ;  and  for  more  than 
forty  years  the  senior  bishop  of  our  communion,  al- 
ways exercising  in  it  a  wide  influence,  mild  and  pa- 
ternal. But  he  w^as  more  eminent  as  a  'perfect  man 
and  an  upright,'  the  'good  and  faithful  servant'  of 
his  divine  Master,  'keeping  innocency  and  taking 
heed  to  the  thing  that  is  right,'  ever  'walking  blame- 
less in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the 
Lord,'  and  'having  always  a  conscience  void  of  offence 
towards  God  and  towards  men.'     He  belonged  to  that 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  275 

very  small  class  of  Christians,  who  bear  from  infancy 
the  image  of  Christ,  and  never  deface  it  by  vice,  by 
worldliness  or  by  flagrant  neglect,  and   who   thus, 
though  they  know  and  feel  that  they  are  sinners,  and 
have  no  hope  but  in  the  cross,  do  not  so  feel  it  as  to 
exhibit  the  clear  train  of  converting  experience  which 
other  Christians  undergo,  whose  piety  was  not  so  early, 
or  has  not  proved  so  uniform  and  consistent.     Emo- 
tion, which,  if  not  arising  from  constitutional  tempera- 
ment, impUes  either  change  or  the  apprehension  of  a 
change,  could  have  little  power  over  one  whose  bright 
course  was  so  undeviating.     With  a  character  so  pure, 
it  has  been  said  of  him,  and  not  unaptly,  that  he  was 
sanctified  from  the  womb.     His  whole  life,  frora  in- 
fancy to  extreme  old  age,  spent  in  one  community, 
neither  that  community,  nor  an  individual  either  there 
or  elsewhere,  has  even  a  whisper  against  him.     So 
ignorant  was  he,  personally,  of  evil — so  far  from  con- 
ceiving how  widely  and  in  how  many  ways  it  operates, 
that  he  was  as  free  from  suspicion  of  others  as  from 
guile  in  his  own  bosom:  indeed  he  was  often  too  re- 
luctant  in  the  caution  which  foresees   the   natural 
workings  of  human  motives.     Thus  pre-eminent  in 
all  good  qualities  and  dispositions,  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  his  character  was  allowed  by  every  one  to  have 
been  that  of  a  perfect  man,  and  an  upright.     With  all 
this  excellence,  unquestioned  and  unquestionable,  the 
principles  of  our  venerable  father  had  no  affinity  what- 
ever with  those  which  recognize  the  merit  of  human 
virtue ;  which  rest  the  hope  of  immortality  on  moral 


^76  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

accuracy,  even  as  combined  with  punctilious  religious 
performances;  which  look  for  acceptance  with  God  to 
any  source  but  the  merits  only  of  the  Redeemer." 

Other  traits  of  the  Bishop's  character  corresponded 
with  those  already  noticed.  In  his  intercourse  with 
his  family  and  relatives  he  manifested  an  affection 
tender,  constant  and  judicious;  and  he  received  from 
all  of  them  the  reverence  and  attachment  so  justly 
due.  His  general  social  intercourse  was  distinguished 
by  benevolence  and  urbanity,  flowing  from  a  heart 
disposed  to  promote  the  happiness  and  gratification  of 
all  around  him.  With  these  he  possessed  a  delicacy 
of  feeling  which  made  him  instinctively  shrink  from 
any  thing  that  might  wound  the  feelings  of  others. 
His  society  was  sought  by  old  and  young,  and  by 
each  sex.  His  conversation,  in  which  he  readily  and 
freely  engaged  and  took  pleasure,  was  cheerful,  ani- 
mated and  full  of  anecdotes  relating-  to  the  interestingr 
scenes  which  he  had  himself  beheld  at  different  pe- 
riods of  his  life,  and  the  numerous  persons  of  distinc- 
tion with  whom  he  had  formerly  been  acquainted. 
For  his  memory  was  retentive  and  accurate  ;  not  only 
with  respect  to  facts  occurring  in  early  life,  which  is 
not  uncommon  in  aged  men — but  also  to  those  of  more 
recent  occurrence,  which  is  more  unusual.  Religion 
was  readily  made  the  topic  of  conversation  whenever 
an  occasion  offered  appearing  to  promise  good  from 
the  introduction  of  its  truths.  But  it  was  contrary  to 
his  principles,  and  thought  by  him  injudicious  and 
seldom  productive  of  beneficial  results,  to  press  them 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  277 

constantly  into  notice,  without  regard  to  suitable  op- 
portunities. The  deportment  of  all  towards  him  was 
easy  and  unrestrained,  but  respectful  and  affectionate : 
the  dignity  of  his  character  and  manners  repressing 
any  approach  to  undue  familiarity.  With  all  this 
mildness  and  suavity  he  could,  when  the  occasion 
demanded,  reprove  with  severity — with  great  skill, 
in  consequence  of  his  correct  knowledge  and  judgment 
of  the  principles  of  human  nature,  and  with  much 
efficacy ;  either  by  words,  or  by  marked  silence  and 
disapprobation,  or  other  indications  of  his  sentiments. 
Such  a  deportment  and  such  dispositions  and  cha- 
racter  attracted,  as  they  were  naturally  adapted  to  do, 
the  friendship  and  affection  of  all  who  knew  him. 
No  man,  probably,  could  be  more  free  than  he  was 
from  experiencing  the  enmity  of  others,  or  more  re- 
mote from  enmity  to  them.  It  was  remarked  that  he 
had  no  enemies,  and  was  well  spoken  of  by  all ;  and 
for  this  last  reason  his  friend  and  intimate,  Dr  Benja- 
min Rush,  denounced  against  him  (humorously)  the 
wo  pronounced  in  the  Gospel,  because  all  men  spake 
well  of  him. 

He  thought  it  not  inconsistent  with  his  sacred 
office  to  be  present  at  and  partake  of  the  public  din- 
ners on  anniversary  festivals  or  other  celebrations,  I 
was  once  informed  by  him,  in  the  course  of  a  conver- 
sation at  a  late  period  of  his  life,  of  his  reasons  for  so 
doing.  He  believed  it  called  for  by  his  public  station ; 
that  it  tended  to  check  improprieties,  and  also  led  to 
opportunities  of  usefulness  which  he  should  not  other- 


•278  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

wise  have  obtained.  But  he  early  formed  a  resolution 
that  if  he  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy  he  should  con- 
sider himself  at  liberty  to  decline  them.  To  this 
resolution  he  accordingly  afterwards  adhered.* 

Towards  Christians  of  other  denominations  Dr 
White  was  tolerant  and  liberal ;  and  with  many  of 
them  sustained  a  friendly  and  intimate  intercourse. 
This  did  not  require  any  sacrifice  of  religious  truth, 
or  disregard  or  neglect  of  the  interests  of  his  own 
church;  nor  was  he  capable  of  either.  His  modera- 
tion did  not  proceed  from  indifference.  He  was  firm 
in  maintaining  what  he  deemed  religious  truth,  and 
in  an  enlightened  attachment  to  the  Episcopal  Church. 


*  Having  received  from  the  Society  for  Commemorating  the  Landing 
of  William  Penn  such  an  invitation  for  the  one  hundred  and  forty-eighth 
anniversary  of  that  event — the  25th  of  October  1830 — he  declined  the 
invitation,  but  transmitted  a  toast,  which  was  given,  and  was  in  these 
words  :  "  Perpetuity  to  the  religious  establishment  constituted  by  Wil- 
liam  Penn,  in  the  first  act  of  the  first  legislative  assembly  of  the  province 
of  Pennsylvania."  The  meaning  of  the  toast  will  best  appear  from  the 
language  of  the  act  referred  to.  It  is  entitled,  "  The  law  concerning 
liberty  of  conscience  ;"  and  provides,  "that  no  person  now,  or  at  any 
time  hereafter,  dwelling  or  residing  within  this  province,  who  shall  pro- 
fess  faith  in  God  the  Father,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  his  only  son,  and  in 
the  Holy  Spirit,  one  God  blessed  for  ever  more,  and  shall  acknowledge 
the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  given  by  di- 
vine inspiration  ;  and,  when  lawfully  required,  shall  profess  and  declare 
that  they  will  live  peaceably  under  the  civil  government,  shall  in  any 
case  be  molested  or  prejudiced  for  his  or  her  conscientious  persuasion, 
nor  shall  he  or  she  be  at  any  time  compelled  to  frequent  or  maintain  any 
religious  worship,  place  or  ministry  whatsoever,  contrary  to  his  or  her 
mind  ;  but  shall  freely  and  fully  enjoy  his  or  her  Christian  liberty  in  all 
respects,  without  molestation  or  interruption." 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  279 

Both  in  these  respects,  and  in  the  course  pursued  by 
him  in  the  affairs  of  his  own  communion,  moderation 
and  firmness  harmonized  in  an  unusnal  degree ; 
though  it  might  sometimes  be  thought  that  they  ap- 
parently interfered ;  only,  however,  in  cases  in  which 
he  avoided  pressing  an  approved  principle,  because 
he  thought  the  occasion  unfavourable,  and  expected 
that  one  more  propitious  would  occur.  He  felt  and 
showed  a  proper  deference  and  respect  for  the  opin- 
ions of  others ;  and  was  deliberate  and  cautious  in 
forming  his  own ;  but,  when  once  formed,  they  were 
steadily  adhered  to  and  acted  upon. 

The  mildness  and  candour  of  the  Bishop's  disposi- 
tion were  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  spirit  prevailing 
in  his  controversial  writings.  These  were  wholly 
free  from  the  least  infusion  of  animosity,  bitterness, 
sarcasm,  or  unfairness  in  the  statement  of  the  opinions 
or  motives  of  adversaries,  by  which  such  writings  are 
too  generally  distinguished.  Probably  they  may  be 
less  pleasing  to  many  readers  for  the  want  of  those 
properties :  some  of  which,  at  least,  are  thought  to 
add  to  the  animation  and  interest  of  controversy. 
But  they  are  more  honourable  to  his  character  and 
Christian  feelings :  the  more  so,  because  theological 
controversy  is  so  apt  to  excite  unfriendly  and  violent 
emotions  even  in  those  who,  on  all  other  occasions, 
manifest  a  truly  Christian  temper.  Candour,  urbanity 
and  the  love  of  truth  are  preserved  throughout  his 
works.  The  support  of  sound  and  correct  principles, 
and  not  victory  or  the  display  of  intellectual  ability 


280  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

or  learning,  was  his  iiniform  object ;  which. he  sought 
to  attain  by  just  argument,  without  resort  to  misrep- 
resentation or  invective. 

Modesty  and  humility  appeared  in  his  whole  life 
and  conversation — in  his  deportment  in  every  station. 
Possessed  of  an  unusual  degree  of  personal  influence, 
and  of  acknowledged  eminence,  he  was  perfectly 
unassuming,  and  apparently  unconscious,  certainly 
unostentatious,  of  both.  Both  also  were  received 
unsought;  and  both  were  probably  much  increased 
by  this  very  cause.  He  even  felt  pain  at  receiving 
compliments  on  his  own  usefulness  or  attainments ; 
though  they  were  not  designed  merely  as  such,  or 
uttered  in  his  presence,  but  expressed  with  sincerity 
and  trutli  in.  letters  or  publications,  Asa  specimen 
of  this  may  be  adduced  the  following  remark  in  a 
letter  to  Bishop  Hobart  (10th  of  August  1808),  who 
had,  in  a  review  of  his  episcopal  charge  of  1807. 
spoken  highly  of  his  theological  learning  and  abili- 
ties. "  As  a  reviewer  I  think  you  too  long  in  your 
extracts  from  my  charge.  If  you  go  on  so,  it  will 
take  up  too  much  of  your  room.  I  take  well  your 
gentle  castigations ;  which  I  could  answer,  but  have 
not  time.  It  gave  me  less  concern  than  the  stroking 
which  preceded.  Be  assured  I  felt  a  painful  sensa- 
tion on  reading  of  my  'extensive  and  deep  theolo- 
gical erudition ;'  for  if  I  thought  myself,  as  I  do  not. 
possessed  of  talents  for  it,  circumstances  have  not 
permitted  my  being  enough  in  my  study  for  the  ac- 
quisition."    To  these  estimable  features  may  be  added 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  281 

great  innocency  and  purity  of  mind  and  manners, 
shining  forth  in  his  whole  deportment,  as  if  he  were 
unconscious  of  evil. 

His  conduct  in  every  situation,  even  the  most  un- 
expected and  trying,  evinced  distinguished  Christian 
prudence.  This  virtue  had  full  scope  for  exercise 
and  probation,  in  the  various  situations  in  which  he 
was  from  time  to  time  placed,  by  the  incidents  con- 
nected with  the  government  and  affairs  of  the  Church 
over  which  he  presided,  and  by  his  frequent  inter- 
course with  those  of  other  denominations.  By  it  he 
was  enabled,  without  abandoning  any  principle  deemed 
correct  by  himself  or  his  own  Church,  to  preserve 
harmony  of  feeling  and  intercourse  with  others,  and 
obtained  their  respect  an.d  friendship.  And  an  intel- 
lectual quality,  possessed  by  him  in  a  very  eminent 
degree,  and  improved  by  close  observation  and  expe- 
rience, contributed  largely  to  the  good  results  of  that 
prudence,  and  to  the  increase  of  his  usefulness  to  the 
Church — I  mean  his  accurate  discrimination  of  the 
characters  of  men:  in  which  he  was  seldom  mistaken, 
when  he  had  reasonable  opportunities  of  forming  a 
judgment  He  was  not  hasty  or  rash  in  adopting  his 
opinion,  or  disposed  to  entertain  prejudices,  or  to  per- 
severe in  a  mistaken  judgment.  The  most  perfect 
candour  towards  all  was  his  aim  and  desire. 

Being  placed  in  a  very  extensive  parish,  as  well  as 
in  a  large  diocese,  his  active  duties  were  numerous 
and  arduous,  and  necessarily  occupied  much  of  his 
time.     Yet  he  was  enabled  to  devote  much  also  to  the 


282  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

labours  of  his  study.  It  has  often  excited  surprize  that 
he  was  able  to  effect  so  much.  But  the  causes  were, 
his  great  and  unintermitted  industry — his  exact  me- 
thod in  the  employment  of  his  time — his  strict  punc- 
tuality in  complying  with  every  engagement  (for 
which  he  was  remarkable,  and  often  produced  the 
like  habit  in  those  with  whom  he  had  intercourse  in 
business) — the  ease  with  which  he  could  fix  his  mind 
intently  on  the  subject  before  him — and  the  clearness 
and  rapidity  of  his  conception.  These  habits  and 
powers  continued  unimpaired  until  his  last  illness. 

In  relieving  distress,  and  in  other  exercises  of  cha- 
rity, he  was  benevolent  and  liberal.  Yet  his  revenues 
were  not  large;  his  family  became  numerous;  and 
his  station  exposed  him  to  many  unavoidable  expenses. 
His  income  from  his  parish  was  about  twenty-two  or 
twenty-three  hundred  dollars.  As  bishop,  he  received 
nothing,  except  the  interest  on  Mr  Andrew  Doz's 
legacy,  of  about  four  thousand  dollars,  which  was  the 
first  foundation  of  the  episcopal  fund  of  the  diocese : 
and  he  was  frequently  obliged  to  defray,  himself,  the 
expense  of  visiting  different  churches.  He  had,  how- 
ever, a  respectable,  but  not  large,  private  estate.  The 
mention  of  this  subject  suggests  the  introduction  of  a 
remark  made  in  a  daily  publication  in  Philadelphia,* 
shortly  after  his  death.  Referring  to  the  notice  in  the 
London  papers  of  that  event,  and  of  the  comparative 

*  The  United  States  Gazette.  Its  editor  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  283 

medioci'ity  of  his  salary,  the  editor  said:  "Bishop 
White  enjoyed  a  revenue  beyond  a  monarch's  com- 
mand—his daily  income  was  beyond  human  compu- 
tation. If  he  w^ent  forth,  age  paid  him  the  tribute  of 
affectionate  respect,  and  children  'rose  up  and  called 
him  blessed.' "  The  general  sentiment  applauded 
and  concurred  with  the  just  and  beautiful  commenda- 
tion . 

The  Bishop  did  not  think  that  the  character  of  a 
citizen  of  the  commonwealth  should  be  lost  in  that  of 
the  Christian  minister.  For  he  thought  the  duties 
and  privileges  of  the  former  perfectly  consistent  with 
those  of  the  sacred  office.  He  constantly  attended 
and  voted  at  elections,  agreeably  to  his  conscientious 
judgment.  But  here  he  stopped.  He  would  never 
condescend  to  perform  the  part  of  a  political  partisan. 
He  inculcated  the  same  course  of  conduct  on  his  clergy 
and  on  candidates  for  orders,  as  a  duty  of  the  citizen 
still  incumbent  on  them,  and  not  dispensed  with  by 
the  ministerial  office.  His  own  experience  proved 
that  his  influence  and  respectability  in  that,  were  not 
at  all  diminished.  The  inconvenience,  which,  to  an 
aged  man,  could  not  be  slight,  of  attending  a  contested 
election,  and  delivering  his  vote  amid  the  struggles  of 
opposing  parties,  did  not  deter  him  from  continuing  to 
perform  this  duty,  even  in  very  advanced  life  The 
reverence  felt  for  him  by  all  of  them  was  sometimes, 
on  such  occasions,  strikingly  manifested  by  their  sus- 
pending, on  his  approach,  their  struggles  for  access  to 
the  windows  where  the  votes  were  deposited,    and 


284  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

opening  a  lane  through  which  he  conld  advance  for 
that  purpose,  and  again  retire  without  difficulty. 
And  the  beneficial  effect  of  the  incident  on  the  feel- 
ings of  the  multitude,  was  observed  to  continue  for  a 
considerable  time.  His  principles  on  the  subject  are 
thus  expressed  by  himself.* 

Speaking  of  the  promise  at  ordination  "to  maintain 
and  set  forwards  quietness,  peace  and  love  among  all 
Christian  people,  and  especially  among  them  that  are, 
or  shall  be  committed  to  his  charge,"  he  remarks: 
"  Especially,  the  promise  should  have  the  effect  of 
keeping  a  minister  out  of  the  vortex  of  civil  broils. 
There  can  be  no  question  of  his  right,  or  rather  it  is 
his  duty  to  make  a  temperate  use  of  any  civil  privi- 
leges with  which  the  laws  of  his  country  clothe  him. 
But  with  the  allowance  of  this  exception,  there  can 
be  no  greater  degradation  of  the  ministerial  character 
— it  may  be  added,  no  greater  pest  to  the  community, 
provided  there  be  the  weight  of  influence — than  when 
it  is  employed  by  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  to  thrust 
himself  into  public  councils.  Such  a  man  will  pro- 
bably be  under  the  influence  of  worldly  passion  :  and 
much  v/orse  is  to  be  expected  of  him  than  of  other 
men,  with  the  like  views ;  because  nothing  can  be  so 
bad  as  such  passions,  either  under  the  cloak  of  sanc- 
tity or  under  the  violation  of  a  sanctiiy,  the  calls  of 


*  This  extract  is  from  an  ordination  sermon,  not  published.  Similar 
sentiments  will  be  found  in  his  published  work,  On  the  Duties  of  the 
Ministry. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  285 

which  were  professed  to  be  obeyed,  and  its  duties  to 
be  practised.  AVhat  oaths  of  office  can  be  expected 
to  bind  the  man,  who,  in  the  very  act  of  taking  them, 
sets  at  nought  other  engagements,  made  under  stronger 
circumstances  of  solemnity  ?  If  the  ministerial  office 
can  be  at  all  useful,  there  is  no  way  in  which  it  may 
be  more  so,  than  in  its  raising  of  the  harmonizing 
voice  of  religion,  for  the  allaying  of  the  jealousies  and 
the  resentments  which  result  from  the  interfering  in- 
terests and  opinions  of  men  in  civil  life.  But  does  it 
appear,  that,  from  the  infancy  of  Christendom  to  the 
present  day,  this  blessed  work  has  been  promoted  by 
ecclesiastical  politicians  ?  The  truth  is,  that  they  have 
been  the  fomenters  of  strife,  in  every  line  in  which 
they  have  interfered.  No  wonder :  because  it  was 
either  the  lust  of  power  or  the  spirit  of  faction  which 
drove  them  into  the  state  of  temptation.  From  such 
characters  nothing  else  was  to  be  expected,  than  that 
they  should  increase  the  confusion." 

On  three  occasions — and  I  know  of  no  others — at 
all  connected  with  political  affairs,  he  consented  to 
preside  at  large  pubUc  meetings.  They  were  called 
for  the  following  purposes  :  one,  to  promote  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  held 
fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago;  a  second,  to  consider 
what  measures  were  proper  to  be  adopted  to  express 
the  sympathy  of  our  Citizens  for  our  Christian  bre- 
thren, the  Greeks,  struggling  for  their  lives,  liberties 
and  religion  against  the  tyranny  of  the  Turks,  on 
the  nth  of  December  1823 ;  and  the  third,  on  the  11th 


286  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

of  January  1830,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
propriety  of  memorializing  Congress,  that  in  any 
measure  of  the  government,  in  reference  to  the  Che- 
rokee and  other  nations  of  Indians,  the  faith  of  the 
United  States  towards  them  might  be  inviolably  pre- 
served. The  Bishop's  address,  on  the  last  occasion, 
will  explain  his  motives  for  consenting  to  preside  in 
that  and  similar  meetings.  On  taking  the  chair,  he 
addressed  the  assembly  in  these  words  : 

"Fellow  Citizens  : — I  solicit  your  indulgence  while, 
with  brevity,  I  state  to  you  the  reasons  of  my  consent- 
ing to  the  proposed  honour  of  presiding  at  this  meet- 
ing, held  with  the  view  of  having  a  bearing  on  civil 
legislation.  What  I  am  doing  is  alien  from  the  habits 
of  my  life;  and  may  be  thought  not  in  agreement 
with  the  decorum  suited  to  the  clerical  character. 

"Being  of  the  opinion  that  the  rights  of  the  citizen 
are  not  merged  in  what  is  appropriate  to  the  ministry 
of  the  Gospel ;  and  knowing  that  the  possession  of  con- 
stitutional rights  cannot  but  exact  the  discharge  of 
correspondent  duties;  I  have  always  held  myself  not 
only  privileged,  but  bound  to  declare  my  sentiments, 
and  to  accommodate  to  them  my  votes,  on  public 
measures  of  importance.  On  the  other  hand,  aware 
of  the  mischiefs  produced  by  the  meddling  of  ecclesi- 
astical politicians,  I  have  thought,  that  to  others  than 
to  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  the  community  should  look 
for  the  taking  of  the  lead,  on  questions  relative  to  their 
civil  interests. 

"If  it  should  seem  a  departure  from  this  principle 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  287 

that  I  am  now  to  take  my  seat  in  the  chair  behind  me, 
my  defence  is  in  the  nature  of  the  subject  which  has 
brouo-ht  us  too^ether  on  this  occasion.  It  is,  that  we 
may  exercise  the  constitutional  privilege  of  expressing 
our  sense,  on  a  question  expected  to  come  before  the 
federal  legislature,  relative  to  interests  not  of  ordinary 
occurrence;  but  directed  to  a  measure  in  contrariety 
to  the  most  imperious  claims  of  justice,  to  very  affect- 
ing appeals  to  our  humanity,  and  to  the  faith  of  the 
nation,  often  pledged  to  a  helpless  and  unoffending 
people,  in  rightful  possession  of  the  territory  from 
which  they  are  threatened  to  be  withdrawn. 

"  In  the  opinion  of  him  who  addresses  you,  it  will  not 
be  superstitious  to  entertain  the  fear,  that  such  an  act 
of  government,  should  it  be  put  forth,  may  dra\v  down 
on  us  some  of  the  calamities  by  which  the  righteous 
Ruler  of  the  world,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  pro- 
vidence, often  causes  that  a  national  sin  shall  be  the 
beginning  of  a  series  of  national  sufferings,  ending  in 
the  prostration  of  legitimate  and  free  government. 

"  For  these  reasons,  I  consider  the  object  before  us 
as  claiming  that,  for  the  accomplishing  of  it,  every 
heart  should  feel,  every  voice  should  be  raised,  and 
there  should  be  put  forth  every  energy,  with  modera- 
tion, but  in  such  a  direction  as  is  the  most  likely  to 
be  efficient." 

His  political  principles  were  maintained  with  great 
consistency,  from  the  commencement  of  the  revolu- 
tion to  the  close  of  his  life.  They  were  those  of  the 
distinguished  statesmen  known  in  Pennsylvania  by 


288  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

the  title  of  Republicans  during  the  war  of  indepen- 
dence, and  of  Federalists  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  the  existing  constitution  of  the  United  States ;  and 
they  were  the  same  which  characterized  the  adminis- 
tration of  Washington.  Notwithstanding  the  oblo- 
quy afterwards  endeavoured  to  be  cast  upon  them,  he 
never  abandoned  his  conviction  of  their  correctness, 
and  of  their  importance  for  promoting  the  general 
welfare :  and  he  acted  agreeably  to  them  whenever  an 
opportunity  occurred. 

We  pass  to  the  Bishop's  character  as  a  parochial 
clergyman.  His  faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  all 
the  duties  of  the  sacred  office,  will  not  be  denied  by 
any.  Different  opinions  will  be  doubtless  entertained 
concerning  the  most  proper  and  efficient  means  for 
exciting  and  cherishing  piety  and  virtue,  so  far  as 
these  may  be  promoted  by  human  agency.  On  that 
subject,  Dr  White  had  deliberately  and  conscientiously 
formed  his  opinions,  after  attentive  and  serious  reflec- 
tion on  the  principles  of  Christianity  and  of  human 
nature ;  and  he  found  his  opinions  supported  and 
strengthened  by  a  long  experience  of  the  influence  of 
the  methods  which  he  deemed  most  agreeable  to  the 
Gospel  and  the  character  of  man,  by  appealing  to  the 
understanding  and  the  affections.  He  had  also  at- 
tentively observed  the  effects  of  those  of  a  different 
kind,  preferred  by  many  others,  addressed  to  the  feel- 
ings, and  productive  of  great  excitement.  The  former 
he  thought  the  most,  or  indeed  the  only  efficient 
means  of  producing  genuine,  deep   and    permanent 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  289 

piety.  The  methods  which  he  thought  correct,  he 
steadily  and  faithfully  employed  himself,  and  com- 
mended to  all  with  whom  he  was  officially  connected. 
His  station  united  him,  of  course,  with  the  several 
societies  instituted  in  the  Church,*  for  promoting  the 
same  great  objects.     And  in  presiding  over  and  con- 

*  Besides  those  connected  with  the  Church,  he  belonged  to  various 
literary,  charitable,  or  religious  institutions.  The  following  information 
on  this  subject  is  contained  in  a  letter  from  him  to  Robert  Walsh,  Esq., 
dated  February  5,  1827.  "  In  regard  to  my  relations  to  sundry  societies 
existing  in  this  city,  I  inform  you  as  follows:  Of  the  Philosophical  So- 
ciety I  have  been  a  member  ever  since  its  formation,  by  a  union  of  two 
societies,  into  one  of  which  I  had  been  chosen  when  a  youth.  This 
union  took  place  nearly  half  a  century  ago.  For  some  time,  a  few  years 
after,  I  was  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  combined  society.  Owing 
to  my  many  ecclesiastical  engagements,  and  to  some  needless  feuds  of 
temporary  prevalence,  I  have  for  many^  years  omitted  attendance  on  its 
meetings  ;  continuing  a  member,  and  contributing  to  its  expenses. 

"Of  the  College  I  have  been  a  trustee  since  the  month  of  May  1784. 
In  this  station  I  may,  in  some  sort,  be  said  to  have  succeeded  my  father ; 
who  had  been  a  trustee  from  the  beginning,  but  while  I  was  in  Eno-land 
resigned  his  seat,  after  having  been  a  diligent  attendant  on  the  meetings 
and  the  examinations  ;  but  from  which  he  would  have  been  prevented  by 
increasing  weakness,  induced  by  an  accidental  lameness  of  many  precede 
iiig  years, 

"  My  presidency  in  the  Dispensary  has  been  from  the  begiiniing  of  it, 
in  1786.  The  same  in  the  Prison  Society,  from  the  beginning  of  it,  in 
the  same  year.f  The  same  in  the  Magdalen  Society,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  it,  in  1800.  The  same  in  the  old  Sunday  School  Society,  con. 
sisting  of  members  of  different  denominations,  and  the  first  instituted  in 
the  United  States,  from  the  beginning  of  it,  about  the  same  time.  It  still 
exists  as  a  corporation,  and  has  no  schools,  but  distributes  the  income  of 

•f     In  the  establishment  of  the  Dispensary  and  of  the  Prison  Society 
he  took  a  prominent  part. 
Z* 


290  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

ducting  the  affairs  of  all  of  them,  so  situated  as  to  be 
within  his  reach,  he  constantly  and  zealously  bestowed 
his  active  aid,  and  the  benefit  of  his  wisdom  and  ex- 
perience. 

Dangers,  threatening  his  own  health  or  safety,  never 
deterred  him  from  the  faithful  performance  of  duty. 
To  trials  of  that  kind,  alarming  in  their  character,  he 
was  frequently  exposed;  but  they  served  only  to  mani- 
fest his  firm  and  inflexible  adherence  to  it.* 

Besides  numerous  applications  for  advice,  on  cases 
occurring  in  other  dioceses  as  well  as  his  own,  he  was 
very  frequently  consulted  by  individuals  on  doubts 
and  difficulties  of  a  religious  nature,  and  solicited  for 
advice  and  direction  in  special  situations.  Many  such 
were  from  entire  strangers,  and  not  a  few  anonymous, 
pointing  out  a  method  of  conveying  the  answer.  He 
thought  it  a  duty,  in  every  instance,  to  reply  to  them ; 
lest  he  might  lose  any  probable  opportunity  of  pro- 
moting the  influence  of  religion.  A  very  few  only 
are  of  sufficient  importance  and  interest  for  publica- 
tion: and  those  are  inserted  in  the  Appendix.f 

As  a  preacher,  the  Bishop's  talents  and  manner 
were  not  of  a  popular  character.     Yet  he  was  much 

its  funds  among  the  more  modern  schools.  The  same  in  the  Provident 
Society,  from  the  beginning  of  it,  in  1824. 

"  .  .  .  .  The  different  religious  societies,  of  which  I  am  the  principal 
officer are  as  follows.  The  Philadelphia  Bible  Society,  insti- 
tuted in  1808 ;  the  earliest  bible  society  in  the  United  States.  The 
Society  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  instituted  in  1820.  All  the  others  are 
especially  connected  with  the  Episcopal  Church." 

*     Ante,  pp.  158—160.  f     Appendix,  No.  XI. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  291 

esteemed  for  his  judicious  and  solid  instructions,  both 
in  doctrine  and  moraUty.     And  these  came  from  him 
with  o-reat  weight  and  influence,  in  consequence  of 
his  own  example  exhibiting  the  truth  and  efficacy  of 
the  principles  which  he  inculcated,  and  of  the  reve- 
rence and  affection  felt  for  him.     His  discourses,  in 
their  o-eneral  tenor,  were  calm,  serious  and  argumen- 
tative.     But  often  his  thoughts  were  impressive  and 
elevated,  and  expressed  with  great  beauty,  and  even 
eloquence.     On  that  class  of  religious  subjects  which 
were  most  congenial  with  his  own  feelings  and  dispo^ 
sitions,  particularly  on  the  character  of  the  Deity — on 
the  hopes,  the  consolations,  the  promises  of  the  Gos- 
pel— and  on  Christian  morals,  sustained  by  Christian 
motives— on  all  of  which  he  especially  dehghted  fre- 
quently to  dwell,  without  neglecting  a  proper  atten- 
tion to  other  parts  of  the  Christian  system,  his  dis- 
courses were  written  with  an  unction,  and  delivered 
with  a  persuasive  earnestness  and  impressiveness  of 
tone  and  manner,  produced  by  his  own  deep  felt  in- 
terest in  the  subject,  which  made  them  both  pleasing 
and  edifying  to  his  hearers.     That  his  ministrations 
were  acceptable  and  efficient,  is  proved  by  the  enlarge- 
ment of  his  flock,  demanding  an  additional  church 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  parish  under  his  pasto- 
ral charge.     In  his  dehvery  he  was   dignified,  but 
without  much  animation,  and  entirely  without  action : 
the  last  of  which  he  thought  should  not  be  attempted 
by  any  to  whom  it  was  not  natural.     Until  advanced 
in  life,  he  possessed  a  clear,  fine-toned  and  sufficiently 


292  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

powerful  voice,  and  a  distinct  enunciation,  though  too 
rapid;  a  fault  which  he  found  it  difficult  to  correct. 
He  sometimes  remarked  on  it  himself.  The  follow- 
ing anecdote  was  furnished  to  me  by  a  gentleman  to 
whom  it  had  been  related  by  the  Bishop.  Bishop 
Jarvis,  of  Connecticut,  was  noted  for  an  unusually 
slow  and  deliberate  pronunciation.  He  had  repeat- 
edly requested  Dr  White  to  inform  him  of  any  defects 
or  improprieties  which  he  might  observe  in  his  deli- 
very or  reading,  that  they  might  be  corrected.  With 
that  view,  Dr  White  availed  himself  of.  a  favourable 
opportunity,  afforded  by  Dr  Jarvis's  performing  family 
worship  on  an  occasion  while  an  inmate  in  his  house, 
to  mention,  when  they  were  alone  together,  the  oppo- 
site remarks  made  on  their  respective  modes  of  read- 
ing; and  added,  that  he  had  been  thinking  that  if 
they  could  be  mixed  up  together,  they  might  be  made 
two  very  clever  fellows  in  that  respect.  This  may  be 
taken  as  one  specimen  of  his  manner  of  giving  advice 
or  caution  without  offence,  or  appearing  to  assume 
any  superiority. 

Dr  White's  discourses  were  composed  with  care, 
and  attentive  consideration  of  the  subjects  selected. 
And  it  was  his  practice  to  review  and  correct  them, 
when  used  on  another  occasion,  and  even  often  to 
re-write  them,  with  the  advantage  of  more  full  exami- 
nation and  reflection.  They  contain,  therefore,  his 
matured  and  well  considered  opinions.  Eight  or  nine 
years  before  his  decease,  as  appears  from  a  letter  of  his 
to  a  gentleman  who  seems  to  have  requested  one  or 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  293 

more  sermons  for  publication  in  a  work  edited  by 
him  (a  copy  of  which  remains  among  his  papers), 
dated  the  8th  of  March  1831,  he  destroyed  "  a  great 
proportion"  of  the  sermons  which  he  had  written. 

It  has  been  before  stated  that  his  principles  and 
conduct  towards  the  members  of  other  religious  deno- 
minations were  tolerant  and  liberal,  though  he  was, 
at  the  same  time,  strongly  attached,  from  conviction, 
to  his  own  church,  and  firm  in  maintaining  her  prin- 
ciples and  promoting  her  welfare,  and  also  in  sup- 
porting the  just  claims  of  what  he  deemed  to  be  the 
truth.  Yet  he  did  not  approve  of  uniting  with  them 
in  the  execution  of  plans  for  rehgious  improvement; 
beino-  convinced  that  such  a  course  was  unwise,  and 
that,  far  from  tending  to  secure  harmony  and  Chris- 
tian charity,  it  had  the  opposite  effect  of  exciting  and 
increasing  dissension  and  ill-will.  The  only  excep- 
tion which  he  allowed  was  the  Bible  Society,  in  the 
object  of  which  all  Christians  could  unite.  He  there- 
fore became,  and  continued  during  his  life,  president 
of  the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society,  the  first  whicli  was 
formed  in  .the  United  States.  But  his  approbation 
and  support  of  this  would,  as  he  often  declared,  have 
been  withdrawn  had  the  society  not  continued  to 
adhere,  in  spirit  as  well  as  letter,  to  the  principle  on 
which  it  had  been  instituted — the  distribution  of  the 
Scriptures  without  note  or  comment.  This  whole 
subject  appeared  to  him  of  so  great  importance  that 
he  thought  it  proper  to  leave  his  opinions  on  it  re- 


294  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

corded  in  the  journals  of  the  Pennsylvania  Diocesan 
Convention;  and  therefore  inserted  them,  by  v^ay  of 
advice  and  caution,  in  his  annual  address  to  that 
body  in  the  year  1822.*     They  are  as  follows  : 

"  There  is  a  subject  on  v\^hich  your  Bishop  wdshes 
to  record  his  opinion,  matured  by  the  long  experience 
of  his  ministry,  and  acted  on  by  him,  as  he  thinks,  to 
the  advantage  of  the  Church.  It  is  the  conduct  be- 
coming us  towards  those  of  our  fellow  Christians  who 
are  severed  from  us  by  diversity  of  worship  or  of  dis- 
cipline ;  and  in  some  instances,  by  material  contra- 
riety on  points  of  doctrine. 

"  The  conduct  to  be  recommended  is  to  treat  every 
denomination,  in  their  character  as  a  body,  with  re- 
spect ;  and  the  individuals  composing  it  with  degrees 
of  respect,  or  of  esteem,  or  of  affection,  in  proportion 
to  the  ideas  entertained  of  their  respective  merits ; 
and  to  avoid  all  intermixture  of  administrations  in  what 
concerns  the  faith,  or  the  worship,  or  the  discipline  of 
the  church. 

*'  On  the  conduct  to  be  observed  toward  every  de- 
nomination it  is  not  intended  to  recommend  silence 
concerning  any  religious  truth,  from  the  mistaken 
delicacy  of  avoiding  offence  to  opposing  error;  nor  to 
censure  the  exposing  of  the  error,  if  it  be  done  in  a 
Christian  spirit,  and  in  accommodation  to  time  and 
place.     To  take  offence  at  this  is  to  manifest  the 


*     Some  remarks  on  the  same  subject  are  contained  in  his  letters  to 
Bishop  Hobart,  inserted  in  the  Appendix. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  295 

spirit  of  persecution,  under  circumstances  which  have 
happily  disarmed  it  of  power.  But  ^yhen,  instead  of 
argument,  or  in  designed  aid  of  it,  there  is  resort  to 
misrepresentation  and  abuse ;  or,  when  the  supposed 
consequences  of  an  opinion  are  charged  as  the  admit- 
ted sentiments  of  the  maintainor  of  it:  these  are 
weapons  as  much  at  the  service  of  error  as  at  that  of 
truth ;  are  the  oftenest  resorted  to  by  the  former;  and 
are  calculated  to  act  on  intellio-ent  and  inorenuous 
minds  as  reason  of  distrust  of  any  cause  in  which  they 
may  be  employed. 

"  It  is  no  small  aggravation  of  the  evil  that  it  tends 
to  retard  the  time,  which  w^e  trust  will  at  last  be 
brought  about  by  the  providence  of  God,  when,  in 
consequence  of  friendly  communications  arising  out 
of  the  ordinary  intercourses  and  charities  of  life,  there 
will  be  such  an  approximation  of  religious  societies  in 
whatever  can  be  thought  essential  to  communion,  as 
that  they  shall  '  with  one  heart  and  one  mouth  glorify 
God.'  For,  to  those  who  have  attended  to  the  first 
workings  of  what  has  ended  in  the  divisions  and  sub- 
divisions among  Christian  people,  it  must  have  been 
evident,  at  least  in  the  greater  number  of  instances, 
that  with  diversity  of  sentiment  there  might  have 
continued  the  'unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace,'  had  it  not  been  for  the  intrusion  of  personal 
injury  or  provocation,  the  effects  of  passion  or  of  in- 
terfering interests,  wdiich  have  sometimes  insensibly 
induced  the  persuasion  of  service  done  to  the  cause  of 


296  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

God,  when,  in  fact,  human  views  had  a  dominant 
share  in  determining  the  conduct. 

"  There  has  been  referred  to,  in  favour  of  the  point 
sustained,  the  danger  of  exciting  and  increasing  un- 
friendly feeUngs  between  differing  denominations.  It 
is  on  this  principle,  although  there  are  other  conside- 
rations tending  to  the  same  effect,  that  your  Bishop 
has  resisted  all  endeavours  for  an  intermixture  of  ad- 
ministrations in  v/hat  concerns  the  faith,  or  the  wor- 
ship, or  the  discipline  of  the  church.  In  every  known 
instance,  in  which  it  has  proceeded  from  the  usurpa- 
tion of  authority  by  individuals,  it  has  been  produc- 
tive of  conflicting  opinion,  and  of  needless  controversy. 
On  some  occasions  our  institutions  have  been  treated 
with  disrespect,  and  doctrines  unknown  in  them  have 
been  tauo^ht  within  our  walls.     There  have  even  been 

CD 

advanced  claims  of  rights  to  what  was  granted  as 
temporary  indulgence ;  and  thus  our  property  in 
religious  houses  has  been  rendered  insecure  :  all  under 
the  notion  of  liberality  and  Christian  union.  It  would 
be  painful  to  have  it  supposed  that  any  reference  is 
here  had  to  the  many  respectable  ministers  of  other 
denominations  whose  characters  are  in  contrariety  to 
the  offences  stated.  Of  the  intrusion  of  such  men 
there  is  no  apprehension  entertained  at  present :  and 
if  the  door  should  hereafter  be  thrown  open,  the  most 
forward  to  enter  it  would  be  persons  of  the  most  mo- 
derate pretensions  in  talent  and  in  acquirement. 

"It  is  confidently  believed  that  what  is  now  said 
would  not  be  offensive  to  the  more  respectable  and 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  297 

prominent  persons,  whether  clerical  or  lay,  in  the  con- 
cerns of  other  religious  societies ;  who  would  proba- 
bly concur  in  the  declaration  that  the  contrary  as- 
sumption, when  carried  into  effect,  in  opposition  to 
the  governing  authority  in  any  religious  denomination, 
is  the  intolerance  which,  in  former  ages,  pursued  its 
designs  by  penal  laws ;  but  is  now  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  making  hollow  professions  of  fraternity  : 
the  object  being  the  same,  with  difference  only  in  the 
means.  By  any  among  ourselves  favouring  such  de- 
signs, for  what  they  may  conceive  to  be  a  righteous 
end,  it  should  be  considered,  that,  however  commend- 
able the  being  'zealously  affected,'  there  is  the  quali- 
fication of '  a  good  thing ;'  and  that  there  can  be  no 
goodness  in  what  is  contrary  to  modesty,  and  tends 
to  unnecessary  controversy  and  division  :  for,  if  the 
attempted  intermixture  should  be  accomplished,  there 
must  be  the  severance  of  those  wdio  would  '  seek  the 
old  paths,'  not  without  sensibility  to  the  hindrances 
opposed  to  the  '  walking  in  them.'  Thus  there  would 
be  an  increase  of  division  growing  out  of  what  had 
been  professedly  undertaken  for  the  healing  of  it. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  be  on  the  present  subject  without 
giving  occasion  to  the  injurious  charge  of  bigoted 
attachment  to  our  communion :  to  guard  against  which, 
consistently  with  the  acknowledgement  of  decided 
preference,  it  may  be  expedient  to  be  more  parti- 
cular. 

"  Our  church  calls  herself  Episcopal.  She  affirms 
episcopacy  to  rest  on  Scriptural  institution,  and  to 
2  a 


298  MEMOIR  or  THE 

have  subsisted  from  the  beginning.  On  the  varying 
governments  of  other  societies  she  pronounces  no 
judgment.  The  question  is,  not  whether  we  think 
correctly,  but  v^hether  we  are  to  be  tolerated  in  what 
we  think.  If  this  be  determined  in  the  affirmative, 
we  must,  to  be  consistent,  interdict  all  other  than  an 
Episcopalian  ministry  within  our  l)ounds. 

"  Again,  our  church  is  decidedly  in  favour  of  a 
form  of  prayer,  believing  it  to  be  sanctioned  by  divine 
ordainment  under  the  law ;  by  the  attendance  of  our 
Saviour  and  of  his  apostles  on  composed  forms  in  the 
synagogues  and  in  the  temple ;  and  by  indications  of 
their  being  in  use  in  the  primitive  church.  We  do 
not  judge  harshly  of  the  public  prayers  of  our  fellow 
Christians ;  but  we  allege  that,  among  ourselves,  the 
people  are  not  to  be  dependent  on  the  occasional 
feelings,  or  the  discretion,  o^  the  degree  of  cultivation 
of  an  officiating  minister.  With  such  views,  it  is 
-contrary  to  what  we  owe  to  the  edification  of  the 
people,  were  we  to  give  way  to  the  introduction  of  the 
latter  species  of  devotion. 

•'  Once  more.  That  our  Church  teaches  the  doc- 
trmes  of  grace,  and  holds  them  to  be  of  paramount 
importance,  is  obvious  to  all.  Man's  utter  want  of 
righteousness"  by  nature ;  his  absolute  incapacity  of 
merit,  whether  in  the  state  of  nature  or  in  that  of 
grace ;  his  being  under  the  government  of  passions 
impelling  to  sin,  any  further  than  as  counteracted  by 
principles  derived  from  grace ;  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  this,  going  before,  that  he  may  have  a 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  299 

good  will,  and  working  with  him  in  the  exercise  of  it; 
and,  finally,  the  meritorious  ground  of  all  benefit,  in 
the  propitiatory  offering  of  the  Redeemer,  are  not 
only  affirmed  in  our  institutions  but  pervade  them. 
We  rejoice  so  far  as  any  of  our  fellow  Christians  con- 
sent with  us  in  acknowledging  the  said  essential 
truths  of  Scripture.  But  in  some  public  confessions 
we  think  we  find  embodied  with  those  truths  dogmas 
neither  revealed  in  Scripture  nor  deducible  from  its 
contents ;  and,  in  some  instances,  contradicting  what 
our  Church  explicitly  teaches.  The  introducing  of 
such  matter  among  ourselves  is  what  we  cannot  coun- 
tenance ;  and  introduced  it  would  be,  under  the  in- 
termixture here  objected  to.  Of  this  we  have  had 
instances,  where  an  alien  agency  has  been  obtruded ; 
and,  if  it  should  be  countenanced,  the  consequences 
would  be  in  the  greatest  degree  injurious. 

"  If,  after  all,  there  should  be  a  leaning  in  any 
raind  to  the  plausible  plea  of  liberality,  let  there  be 
an  appeal  to  the  fact,  which  will  bear  a  strict  investi- 
gation, that  every  proposal  to  the  purpose,  when  ex- 
plained, amounts  to  the  surrendering  of  one  or  of 
another  of  our  institutions,  without  conformity  to  them 
in  any  instance. 

"  Brethren,  it  is  fit  that  there  should  be  explicitly 
declared  the  motive  for  the  present  expression  of 
opinion.  It  has  been  confidently  acted  on  by  the 
deliverer  of  it,  in  alliance  with  esteem  for  worth,  in 
whatever  individual  or  body  of  men  it  was  discerned 
to  reside.     It  cannot  be  expected  that  he  will  continue 


300  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

much  longer  to  sustain  any  of  his  opinions  either  by 
argument  or  by  example.  He  hopes  that  they  who 
may  be  expected  to  survive  him  entertain  similar 
views  of  what  the  exigences  and  even  the  existence 
of  our  Church  require.  But,  lest  an  effort  to  the  con- 
trary should  hereafter  be  made  by  any,  he  wishes  to 
oppose  to  it,  and  to  leave  behind  him  his  premonition  ; 
and  to  attach  to  it  whatever  weight,  if  there  should 
be  any,  may  be  thought  due  to  his  long  experience 
and  observation.  Under  this  impression  he  has  made 
it  a  part  of  his  official  address,  to  appear,  for  the  pur- 
pose stated,  on  your  journal." 

I  am  unwilling  to  close  this  imperfect  sketch  of 
Dr  White's  character  without  adding  the  just  and 
beautiful  encomium,  pronounced  a  short  time  before 
his  last  illness,  in  the  conclusion  of  an  address,  deli- 
vered by  Bishop  Bowen  of  South  Carolina,  at  the 
commencement  in  the  General  Theological  Seminary 
in  June  1S36.  To  its  correctness  the  general  voice 
of  the  Church  gave  its  approving  testimony. 

"  My  friends,  I  have,  I  know,  detained  your  atten- 
tion too  long  not  to  have  wearied  it.  My  apology 
must  be  the  want  of  opportunity  and  time  to  prepare 
to  say  less.  In  the  qualifications  essential  to  the 
ministry  of  Christ,  and  where  you  are  to  be  called  to 
exercise  it,  there  is,  I  perfectly  know,  a  theme  on 
which,  in  far  less  space,  you  might  have  had  much 
more  addressed  to  you  than  on  this  occasion  has  been. 
Gladly  would  I  have  had  some  other  perform  the  duty 
which,  it  seemed  to  me,  that  I  could  not  waive.     Espe- 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  301 

cially  could  I  have  rejoiced  if  the  venerable  and  holy 
man  to  whom  it  has  always  been  desirable  to  assign 
the  duty  of  uttering  the  counsel  proper  for  this  occa- 
sion, could  have  been  permitted  once  more,  from  the 
abundance  of  his  unexampled  wisdom  and  experience, 
to  have  left  upon  your  memory  the  inestimable  les- 
sons he  has  been  wont  to  deliver.  The  infirmity  of 
almost  fourscore  years  and  ten  may  well  demand  our 
acquiescence  in  the  necessity  of  his  absence  from  us, 
and  in  his  probable  inability  to  instruct  the  church, 
in  this  place,  any  more  for  ever  Never,  however, 
will  he  cease  to  '  instruct  her,  through  the  recorded 
counsels  he  has  given  her,  and  the  memory  of  an  ex- 
ample than  which,  since  the  last  of  the  apostles,  none 
wiser,  purer,  holier  has  been  known.  Look,  my 
friends,  to  this  greatest  and  best  earthly  exemplar  to 
which  we  can  point  you.  Study  his  counsels,  and 
emulate  his  faithfulness,  his  purity,  his  singleness  of 
heart,  his  religious  magnanimity,  his  unweariedness 
m  doing  good,  his  charity  towards  all  men.  Intel- 
lectually, spiritually,  practically,  we  can  bid  you 
advert  to  none  more  worthy  of  your  fond  and  admi- 
ring imitation.  And,  brethren  in  the  ministry  of  our 
household  of  apostolic  faith,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  whatever  our  degree  or  rank  in  its  service, 
may  v/e  all  '  remember  him  who  so  long  has  had  rule 
over  us,  and  has  spoken  to  us  the  word  of  God,  fol- 
lowing his  faith,  and  considering  the  end  of  his  con- 
versation, Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  and  to- 
day and  for  ever.'  " 
2  a* 


302  MEIMOIR  OF  THE 

Of  the  Bishop's  theological  opinions  it  is  not  de- 
signed to  enter  into  a  particular  detail  or  examination. 
It  would  be  too  extensive  an  undertaking  for  the  pur- 
pose of  this  memoir.  They  may  be  best  drawn  from 
his  own  works ;  in  which  they  are  at  large  exhibited 
in  the  manner  which  he  himself  preferred.  His  senti- 
ments on  the  great  and  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Christian  system  may  be  more  clearly  and  satisfac- 
torily discerned  from  his  sermons  than  from  his  con- 
troversial writings ;  for  in  them  he  has  stated  those 
sentiments  more  fully  and  impressively,  and  with  a 
view  to  their  practical  influence;  while  in  the  others, 
being  led  to  consider  and  present  them  only  as  they 
were  connected  with  the  controversies  examined,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  correctness  of  doctrine, 
they  are  not  treated  with  as  much  fulness,  or  in  lan- 
guage expressive  of  so  strong  persuasion  of  their  high 
importance,  or  of  so  much  sensibility  to  their  influence 
on  the  conscience  and  afl'ections.  It  is,  however, 
only  justice  to  him  to  remark  their  truly  evangelical 
character.  With  respect  to  the  actual  depraved  con- 
dition of  the  human  race ;  the  cause  of  it,  in  the 
apostacy  of  their  first  parents ;  their  utter  inability  to 
recover  themselves  from  it ;  their  universal  and  strong 
natural  propensity  to  sin  ;  the  humiliation  incumbent 
on  them,  both  on  that  account  and  for  their  actual 
transgressions  ;  the  design  of  the  Gospel  to  effect  their 
pardon,  and  their  restoration  to  holiness  of  heart  and 
life  ;  the  means  provided  for  those  great  purposes  in 
the  atonement  made  by  the  Redeemer,  and  in  the 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  303 

gracious  influences  and  aids  of  the  holy  spirit ;  the 
necessity,  sufficiency  and  efficacy  of  those  means; 
our  salvation  by  the  free  grace  of  God,  through  faith 
in  the  merits  and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  to  the  entire  ex- 
clusion of  any  merit  of  our  own :  all  these  leading 
and  characteristic  principles  of  the  Gospel  were  uni- 
formly maintained  by  him,  and  inculcated  with  a 
frequency,  earnestness  and  impressiveness  which 
prove  his  persuasion  of  their  truth  and  importance, 
their  salutary  and  transforming  influence  on  the  un- 
derstanding and  heart,  and  his  own  sensibility  to  their 
effect  on  himself. 

I  am  aware  that  with  regard  to  the  theory  (as  it 
may  be  called)  which  he  adopted  to  explain  the 
effects  produced  by  Adam's  fall  upon  the  condition  of 
his  descendants,  and  which  is  most  fully  detailed  and 
illustrated  in  his  four  lectures  on  the  three-fold  state 
of  man,  and  in  his  Comparative  Views  of  the  Calvi- 
nistic  and  Arminian  controversy,  strong  objections 
will  be  felt  and  expressed  by  many  able,  learned  and 
sincere  Christians.  But  on  that  subject  the  Christian 
world  has  been  long  divided  ;  and  there  is  little  pros- 
pect yet  of  a  general  union  of  sentiment.  The  Scrip- 
tures have  given  no  explicit  determination  on  it;  and 
it  rests  therefore  only  on  inferences  drawn  by  human 
reasoning  from  the  facts  and  principles  contained  in 
them.  Difference  of  opinion  on  it  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  affect  Christian  feeling ;  much  less  will  it 
justify  or  excuse  harsh  censure.  And  whatever  may 
be  thought  of  his  theory,  the  defects  of  it,  even  if  any 


304  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

defects  exist,  have  certainly  not  led  him  to  adopt 
unevangelical  opinions  on  the  actual  condition  of 
man  by  nature,  and  the  mode  of  his  recovery  from 
it,  and  advancement  to  happiness  and  immortality. 

That  he  spoke  with  feeling,  as  well  as  correctness, 
on  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  wall  be  rea- 
dily perceived  from  his  sermons,*  particularly  those 
designed  for  the  season  of  lent.  And  that  they  were 
very  frequently  introduced  into  his  instructions  to 
his  flock  will  be  evident  from  the  same  source. 

In  the  Christian  Observer  for  September  1836,  it 
is  asserted  that  there  was  a  change  in  Dr  White's 
views,  on  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gospel;  for 
that,  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  became  more 
attached  to  evangelical  principles,  and  inculcated 
them  more  correctly,  frequently  and  earnestly.  A 
remark  similar  to  it  has  been  occasionally  heard  from 
a  few  individuals  here.  But  I  can  discover  no  proof 
of  such  a  change  in  opinion  or  method  of  instruction. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  remark  was  sometimes  made 
in  relation  to  sermons  which  had  been  before  delivered 
by  him — in  some  cases  many  years  previously — 
wliich  had  not,  however,  then  produced  the  same 
effect  which  they  did  on  the  subsequent  occasions,  or 
it  had  been  forgotten.  Probably  the  deeper  impres- 
sion was  caused  by  a  difference  in  the  state  of  mind 
or  heart,  in  the  degree  of  knowledge  of  the  subject,  or 

*  Among  them  I  would  refer  to  the  following,  among  his  sermons 
arranged  fur  publication  :  No.  XXXI.,  "  Of  the  Faithful  and  Acceptable 
Saying,"  in  I  Tim.  i.  15  ;  No.  LVL,  "  Of  the  Christian  Warfare,"  Eph. 
vi.  11  ;  No.  LXXXIV.,  "  Of  the  Need  of  the  Physician,"  Mark  li.  17. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  305 

even  in  the  attention  of  the  hearers  themselves.  I 
have  attended  his  church  from  childliood;  and,  so  far 
as  mj  own  recollection  enables  me  to  judge,  I  know 
no  other  ground  for  the  assertion.  The  sermons  se- 
lected for  the  proposed  volumes  of  his  Posthumous 
Works,  were  written  and  preached  in  various  and  dis- 
tant periods  of  his  life;  but  it  is  believed  that  they 
would  not  be  found,  on  the  most  careful  comparison, 
to  indicate  any  material  change  in  his  theological 
views,  or  in  the  faithfulness  with  which  he  taught  the 
peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gospel. 


The  Works  of  Bishop  White,  both  published  and 
in  manuscript,  are  voluminous.  A  Catalogue  of  those 
published  in  his  lifetime  ;  of  those  left  in  manuscript, 
and  selected  for  publication  in  the  proposed  volumes 
of  his  Posthumous  Works;  and  of  the  others  in  manu- 
script, is  here  inserted.  It  is  compiled  almost  entirely 
from  lists  left  by  himself,  and  therefore  the  correct- 
ness of  it  may  be  relied  on. 

I.       THOSE  PUBLISHED  DURING  HIS  LIFE. 

1.  The  Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  in  the 
United  States  Considered.  A  pamphlet  published  in 
1782. — Three  letters,*  signed    "  An   Episcopalian," 

*  In  a  catalogue  published  in  the  Protestant  Episcopalian,  vol.  .5,  p. 
33,  only  two  are  mentioned.  But  three  were  published  :  the  originals  of 
which,  sent  to  Bishop  Hobart  for  publication,  are  now  in  my  possession. 


306  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

were  published  by  Dr  White  in  the  Albany  Centinel, 
in  the  summer  of  1805,  in  reply  to  the  author  of  a 
series  of  essays  inserted  in  the  same  paper,  entitled 
"Miscellanies,"  who  cited  the  pamphlet  incorrectly: 
and  they  are  contained  in  "  A  Collection  of  the  Es- 
says on  the  Subject  of  Episcopacy  which  originally 
appeared  in  the  Albany  Centinel;"  published  by  T. 
&  J.  Swords,  New  York,  1806. 

2.  Lectures  on  the  Catechism  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church :  with  Supplementary  Lectures ; 
one  on  the  Ministry,  the  other  on  the  Public  Ser- 
vice: and  Dissertations  on  Select  Subjects  in  the  Lec- 
tures.— One  vol.  8vo.  Philadelphia,  Bradford  &  Ins- 
keep,  1813.     With  additions,  in  manuscript. 

3.  Comparative  Views  of  the  Controversy  between 
the  Calvinists  and  the  Arminians. — Two  vols,  8vo. 
Philadelphia,  M.  Thomas,  1817. 

4.  Memoirs  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America.  One  vol.,  8 vo.  Phi- 
ladelphia, S.  Potter  &  Co.,  1820. — Second  edition, 
continuing  the  History  to  the  year  1835.  One  vol., 
8vo.     New  York,  Swords,  Stanford  &  Co.,  1836. 

5.  A  Commentary  on  the  Questions  in  the  Offices 
for  the  Ordaining  of  Priests  and  Deacons;  and  a 
Commentary  on  the  Duties  of  the  Public  Ministry. 
These  were  first  published  in  the  ''  Quarterly  Theo- 
logical Magazine  and  Religious  Repository,"  for  1813 
and  1814 ;  and  afterwards  in  one  volume,  8vo,  by  T. 
and  J.  Swords,  New  York,  1833. 

6.  Twenty-four    Sermons   on   different   occasions, 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  307 

from  A.D.  1784  to  A.D.  1833.  Collected  and  pro- 
posed to  be  republished  in  connection  with  his  post- 
humous works. 

7.  Five  Episcopal  Charges,  in  1807,  1825,  1831, 
1832  and  1834.  Collected  and  proposed  to  be  repub- 
lished with  the  said  works. 

8.  Five  Addresses  to  the  Trustees,  Professors  and 
Students  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  in 
1822,  1824,  1827,  1828  and  1829.  Published  in 
pamphlets. 

9.  Ten  Pastoral  Letters  of  the  House  of  Bishops, 
from  1808  to  1835  inclusive.  On  these  the  Bishop 
remarks,  in  one  of  the  lists  left  by  him,  "As  these 
letters,  although  in  the  name  of  the  house,  were  knovv-n 
1o  have  been  written  by  me,  and  currently  spoken  of 
with  that  circumstance  attached  to  them ;  and  as,  on 
that  account,  I  may  be  thought  especially  responsible 
for  the  sentiments  expressed,  I  have  thought  that  it 
comes  under  the  principle  of  these  entries  to  take  the 
present  notice  of  them.  The  notoriety  referred  to 
does  not  attach  to  the  various  addresses  penned  by 
me  for  institutions  in  which  I  have  presided  :  but  the 
responsibility  for  which  may  therefore  be  committed 
to  the  bodies  which  respectively  adopted  them." 

10.  An  Essay  containing  Objections  against  the 
Position  of  a  Personal  Assurance  of  the  Pardon  of 
Sin,  by  a  Direct  Communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
First  published  in  the  Christian  Register,  New  York, 
1816 ;  and  afterwards  in  pamphlet  form,  with  notes, 
occasioned  by  a  pamphlet  containing  remarks  on  the 


308  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

essay,  under  the  name  of  "  A  Reply  "     Philadelphia, 
1817.     Also  Replies  to  two  Reviews  of  the  same. 

11.  Miscellaneous  Essays,  &c.,  published  in  va- 
rious periodicals  or  in  pamphlets : — 

An  Essay  noticing  some  errors  in  the  Ecclesias- 
tical History  of  Dr  Lawrence  Mosheim ;  in  the  Notes 
of  Dr  Archibald  Maclain  on  the  same ;  and  in  the 
History  of  the  Puritans  by  Daniel  Neal. — Christian 
Journal,  April  and  May  1818.  With  an  Appendix  m 
manuscript. 

An  Essay  on  Religious  Societies  and  Prayer  Meet- 
ings.— Christian  Journal,  1819. 

An  Essay  concerning  a  Pretended  Imitation  of 
the  "  Kiss  of  Charity,"  spoken  of  in  Rom.  xvi.  16, 
and  four  other  places  of  Scripture  :  Designed  espe- 
cially for  the  perusal  of  Students  in  Theology. — Chris- 
tian Journal,  February  1819. 

Vindication  of  Archbishop  Seeker. — Episcopal  Ma- 
gazine, April  1820. 

A  Catechism  on  the  Constitution  of  the  Christian 
Church,  its  Ministries  and  its  Services,  as  maintained 
by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. — Episcopal  Ma- 
gazine, May  1820. 

An  Essay  on  the  Question  of  the  Validity  of  Lay 
Baptism. — Episcopal  Magazine,  June  1820. 

Two  Essays  designed  especially  for  the  perusal  of 
Students  in  Theology.  Essay  I.  On  the  Terms, 
Sacrifice,  Altar  and  *Priest ;  Essay  II.  On  Certain 
Questions  relative  to  the  Eucharist. — Episcopal  Ma- 
gazine, January  and  February  1820. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  309 

Vindication  of  Bishop  Seabury. — Christian  Journal, 
January  1821. 

Three  smaller  Tracts.  1.  Remarks  on  Experi- 
ences, as  a  Subject  of  Ordinary  Conversation  and  of 
Ecclesiastical  Inquiry.  2.  Remarks  on  the  Phrase, 
"  Vital  Godliness."  3.  Remarks  on  the  Phrase,  "  the 
Hiding  of  God's  Face." — Christian  Journal,  Decem- 
ber 1819,  January  and  February  1820. 

Conversations  of  a  Minister  with  a  Parishioner,  on 
Baptismal  Regeneration. — Christian  Journal,  March, 
April,  June  and  July  1822. 

Answers  to  Philos. — Philadelphia  Recorder,  Au- 
gust and  September  1823. 

An  Address  delivered  at  laying  the  Corner  Stone 
of  the  Building  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  on  the  15th 
of  June  1824. — National  Gazette,  June  17,  1824. 

An  Address  at  laying  the  Corner  Stone  of  the  Gen- 
eral Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  July  1825. — 
Newspapers  of  the  day. 

Defence  of  Bishop  Hobart's  Sermon  in  Rome. — 
Church  Register,  7th  of  January  1826. 

Remarks   on   the   Commentary  of  the    Reverend 
Thomas  Scott. — Church  Register,  February  11,  18,' 
25  and  April  29,  1826. 

Of  Primitive  Facts  explanatory  of  Scripture. — 
Church  Register,  January  21  and  28,  1826. 

Concerninor  the  Latin  Translation  of  the  Articles. — 
Church  Register,  April  15,  1826. 

Of  the  Testimony  of  the  Church  to  the  Books  of 
Scripture. — Church  Register,  March  18,  1826. 
2b 


310  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Of  Bowing  at  the  Name  of  Jesus. — Church  Regis- 
ter, January  27,  1827. 

An  Opinion  concerning  the  Will  of  Stephen  Gi- 
rard. — Poulson's  American  Daily  Advertiser,  January 
26,  1832,     (It  is  inserted  in  this  Memoir,  p.  234.) 

An  Opinion  relative  to  a  supposed  case  of  Intended 
Marriage.— Pamphlet,  October  1809. 

An  Address  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
September  20,  1813,  on  the  Introduction  of  Drs 
Beasley  and  Patterson. — United  States  Gazette,  Sep- 
tember 23,  1813. 

An  Address  to  the  Female  Bible  Society. — Pam- 
phlet, March  23,  1814. 

An  Address  at  the  Consecration  of  Bishop  Henry 
U.  Onderdonk,  October  25,  1827. 

An  Address  at  the  Consecration  of  Bishop  Benja- 
min T.  Onderdonk,  November  25,  1830. 

Two  Addresses  to  the  Special  Diocesan  Convention 
in  1826.  Published  with  the  Journal  and  in  pam- 
phlet form.     (They  are  in  the  Appendix,  No.  VIII.) 

An  Address  at  the  laying  of  the  Corner  Stone  of  a 
Monument  to  General  Washington,  February  22, 
1833. — Newspapers  of  the  time. 

Three  Letters  to  the  Editor  of  the  American  Quar- 
terly Review,  concerning  an  article  in  that  work,  on 
the  subject  of  the  Religious  Observance  of  One  Day 
in  Seven,  in  connection  with  that  of  Sunday  Mails. — 
Protestant  Episcopalian,  October  1830. 

Address  of  the  Clergy  to  General  La  Fayette. — 
Poulson's  American  Daily  Advertiser,  1824. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  311 

An  Address  concerning  the  Greeks. — In  the  same 
paper,  December  11,  1823. 

An  Address  concerning  the  Cherokees,  on  the  11th 
of  January  1830. — In  the  same  paper,  January  13, 
1830.     (Inserted  in  this  memoir,  p.  286.) 

Considerations,  expressed  with  brevity,  in  reference 
to  the  Institutions  and  Practices  of  the  Episcopal 
Church ;  and  addressed  by  the  Pastor  of  Three  Con- 
gregations to  those  of  his  Parishioners  by  whom  they 
are  entirely  or  in  part  disregarded.— -Pamphlet. 

Additional  Instructions  to  the  Missionaries  to  Chi- 
na.—Missionary  Record,  May  29,  1835.  (Inserted 
in  this  memoir,  p.  248.) 

Thoughts  on  the  Singing  of  Psalms  and  Anthems 
in  Churches.— Pamphlet,  1808,  signed  "Silas."— 
Reprinted  in  Christian  Journal  for  May  and  June 
1808,  and  afterwards  by  Mr  Armal  of  Germantown. 

A  Prayer  and  Address  at  the  Opening  of  the  Hall 
of  the  Washington  Benevolent  Society,  October  1816; 
included  in  their  printed  statement. 

A  Commentary  on  all  the  Passages  in  the  New 
Testament  relative  to  the  Ministry. — Published,  to 
the  end  of  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  in  the  Episco- 
pal Magazine  for  1820  and  1821 ;  the  rest  i7i  man- 
uscri])t.  (The  Commentary  has  been  selected  to  be 
published  complete  in  one  of  the  proposed  volumes  of 
his  Posthumous  Works.) 

Additions  inserted  in  Samuel  F.  Bradford's  edition 
of  Rees's  Cyclopoedia  ;  in  the  two  half  volumes  from 
A  to  K,  and  from  N  to  end. 

Answer  to  an  Attack  in  "the  Aurora,"  concerning 


312  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

the  Mitre  on  the  Steeple  of  Christ  Church.     Printed 
before  the  decease  of  B.  F.  Bache. 

A  Narrative  concerning  Lieutenant  Asgill. — Mu- 
seum of  June  1835. 

An  Address  and  Form  of  Prayer  on  occasion  of 
the  decease  of  the  Honourable  John  Marshall.  (See 
the  Appendix,  No.  V.) 

Preface  to  the  Sermons  of  the  Reverend  William 
Smith,  D.D.,  who  died  while  his  sermons  were  in  press. 

A  Conversation  on  the  subject  of  Original  Sin. — 
Protestant  Episcopalian,  vol.  2,  pp.  151  and  231. 

Succession  of  the  English  Episcopacy  from  the 
Greek  Church. — In  the  same,  p.  307. 

Notices  of  certain  Periods  in  the  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  England  ;  designed  for  Students  in  The- 
ology.— In  the  same,  pp.  423  and  447. 

Defence  of  the  Measure  of  the  House  of  Bishops  in 
1801,  on  the  question  of  consecrating  a  Bishop  for  the 
Diocese  of  New  York. — In  the  same,  vol.  3,  p.  68. 

Of  the  Effect  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  on  the  Question  of  the  Episcopacy. — In  the 
same,  p.  93. 

Essay  on  the  Infallibility  claimed  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  :  designed  for  the  perusal  of  young 
persons  under  an  incipient  danger  of  seduction  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church. — In  the  same,  p.  416. 

An  Argument  in  favour  of  Divine  Revelation, 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  Source  of  the  Know- 
ledge of  God,  now  or  ever  in  the  Possession  of  Man- 
kind.— In  the  same,  vol.  4,  p.  249. — Appendix  thereto, 
p.  456. 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  313 

Expositions  of  certain  Passages  of  Scripture,  often 
quoted  for  the  Increase  of  Piety,  but  with  such  mis- 
interpretations as  tend  to  an  Opposite  result ;  with  an 
Appendix. — In  the  same,  p.  387. 

Extension  of  the  Principle  of  Bishop  Henry  U. 
Onderdonk's  Charge  on  the  Rule  of  Faith,  in  1833. — 
In  the  same,  p.  417  ;  continued  in  vol.  5,  pp.  217, 
256,  299,  330,  416  and  449  ;  see  also  vol.  6,  pp.  29,  113. 

An  Argument  against  Roman  Catholicism,  from 
there  being  no  Evidence  of  its  Pretensions,  either  in 
those  passages  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  in  those  records 
of  Primitive  Antiquity,  in  which,  if  valid,  they  would 
naturally  be  expected. — In  the  same,  vol.  6,  p.  294. 

On  the  Division  of  Dioceses. — In  the  same,  p.  327. 

Essay  on  the  Use  of  the  word  "  Priest"  in  the 
Institutions  of  the  Episcopal  Church, — In  the  same, 
p.  413. 

[N.B.  All  the  particulars  contained  in  this  11th 
No.  are  taken  from  a  list  in  the  hand- writing  of  the 
Bishop,  concluding  with  these  words :  ''  The  produce 
tions  noticed  in  this  paper  are,  to  the  best  of  my 
recollection,  all  published  by  me  to  the  end  of  1835." 
The  manuscript  is  stated  to  have  "  had  for  its  object 
the  guarding  against  there  being  hereafter  exhibited, 
as  published  by  the  author,  any  production  which 
was  not  his."  Three,  certainly  his,  were  however 
inadvertently  omitted ;  which,  with  those  published 
after  1835,  are  subjoined.] 

A  Caution  against  the  Misrepresentations  in  a  Late 
Work,  entitled,  "  Travels  of  an  Irish  Gentleman  in 
2  B* 


314  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

Search  of  a  Religion." — Protestant  Episcopalian,  vol. 
4,  pp.  466 ;  see  vol.  5,  p.  35,  in  which  it  is  inserted  in 
the  Catalogue  by  himself. 

An  Essay  on  Variety  in  Prayer. — In  the  same,  vol. 

6,  p.  130. 

Address  and  Prayer  at  the  Centennial  Celebration 
of  the  Birth  of  General  Washington. — Poulson's 
American  Daily  Advertiser,  February  22,  1832;  see 
Catalogue  in  Protestant  Episcopalian,  vol.  5,  p.  34. 

A  Doubt  concerning  the  Usual  Interpretations  of 
Revelations  xiv.  6,  7. — Protestant  Episcopahan,  vol. 

7,  -p.  74. 

A  Dialogue  between  a  Protestant  and  a  Roman 
Catholic,  concerning  the  Name  of  the  Church  of  the 
latter. — In  the  same,  p.  99. 

A  Dialogue  between  a  Protestant  and  a  Roman 
Catholic,  concerning  certain  Attributes,  claimed  as 
characteristic  of  the  Church  of  the  latter :  with  an 
Appendix. — In  the  same,  p.  133. 

An  Essay  on  Wandering  of  the  Mind  in  Prayer. — 
In  the  same,  p.  274  (inserted  in  the  Appendix,  No.  X.). 

II.       SELECTED  MANUSCRIPTS,  FOR   PUBLICATION  IN  THE 
PROPOSED  VOLUMES  OF  HIS  POSTHUMOUS  WORKS. 

1.  Four  Lectures,  additional  to  those  on  the  Cate- 
chism, on  the  Threefold  State  of  Man. 

2.  A  Short  Essay  on  the  Analogy  of  the  Under- 
standinof  and  the  Will :  annexed  to  those  Lectures. 

3.  One  Hundred  and  Sixty-One  Selected  Sermons. 
.  4.  A  Commentary  on  all  the  Passages  in  the  New 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  315 

Testament,  relative  to  the  Ministry. — (Partly   pub- 
lished before;  see  ante,  p.  311.) 

5.  A  Counter  Apology  for  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  in  a  Review  of  the  Apology  of  Robert  Bar- 
clay on  the  same  Subject :  with  Notice  of  some  Pas- 
sages in  the  Work  of  Thomas  Clarkson,  A.  M.,  en- 
titled "  The  Portraiture  of  Quakerism  ;"  and  an  Ap- 
pendix, containing  an  Account  of  the  Controversy 
between  Charles  Leslie  and  Joseph  Wyeth.  In  three 
volumes.* 

*  It  appears  from  the  preface,  dated  June  10,  1815,  that  the  first  sug- 
gestion of  this  work  in  Bishop  White's  mind,  was  in  the  year  1805,  when 
it  was  begun.  After  some  progress  was  made  in  it,  it  was  laid  aside  for 
several  years.  In  the  year  1810  it  was  resumed,  and  completed  during 
that  and  the  succeeding  year.  A  memorandum  attached  to  the  MS.,  and 
dated  July  17,  1826,  shows  that  the  work  was  re-perused  at  that  time  by 
the  Author,  without  his  "finding  any  reason  to  change  his  opinions." 
It  was  again  revised  in  1833,  and  the  following  memorandum,  dated  Octo- 
ber 18, 1833,  inserted  in  the  MS. 

"  On  a  re-perusal  of  the  Counter  Apology,  I  see  no  cause  to  with- 
draw any  of  the  arguments  contained  in  it.  Whether  it  will  ever  be 
published,  is  uncertain  :  but  I  believe  that  it  would  tend  to  the  uphold- 
ing of  the  truths  of  our  holy  religion  ;  first,  by  showing  the  danger  of  a 
theory,  whicii,  by  affirming  an  imaginary  light  of  nature,  under  an  im- 
posing but  misapplied  name,  leads  to  deism  ;  and,  secondly,  by  distinguish- 
ing between  Christian  duty  and  requisitions  foreign  to  it ;  representing 
them,  to  young  persons  especially,  as  equally  obligatory;  and  thus  pre- 
paring their  ripening  understandings  for  an  equal  disregard  of  both. 

"  Perhaps  it  may  be  expected  of  the  Author  to  declare  his  opinion  on 
the  breach,  which,  since  the  penning  of  these  volumes,  has  been  made  in 
the  society  called  Quakers.  Tiiey  have  divided  on  three  points,  which 
have  been  lately  under  the  cognizance  of  the  supreme  court  of  New  Jer- 
sey. As  these  three  points  have  been  perseveringly  contended  for  by  the 
society,  it  is  conceded  that  the  court  was  correct  in  their  decision  on  the 
grounds  on  which  it  was  rested;  and  which  were  pressed  by  counsel, 
on  the  part  of  those  called  the  Orthodox.     It  is  not  to  be  denied,  how- 


316  MEMOIR  OF  THE 

6.  Correspondence  with  Mr  Charles  Miller,  of 
Boston,  relative  to  King's  Chapel.  (In  the  Appendix, 
No.  II.) 

7.  Address  on  Building  a  New  Church,  in  1806. — 
Ibid.,  No.  VI. 

8.  A  Projected  Report  on  the  Table  of  Kindred 
and  Affinity.— Ibid.,  No.  III. 

9.  Autobiography. — See  a7ite,  pp.  10  to  12. 

10.  Cautionary  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,  by  her 
Pastor,  in  reference  to  the  Danger  of  being  drawn 

ever,  that  if  we  look  back  to  times  antecedent  to  those  of  Robert  Bar- 
clay and  William  Penn,  there  are  imprudent  sayings  of  some  of  the 
preachers,  recited  in  this  work,  favouring  the  pretensions  of  those  styled 
"  The  Hicksites."  But  such  sayings  ought  not  to  countervail  the  more 
deliberate  and  the  uninterrupted  profession  of  the  society. 

"  The  Hicksites,  it  is  said,  complain  of  persecution,  on  the  ground  of 
an  alleged  majority  deprived  of  the  occupancy  of  a  building.  The  deci- 
sion of  the  court  is  not  extended  to  conscience,  or  to  the  profession  of  its 
dictates.  These  do  not  reach  to  the  occupancy  of  a  building ;  which  must 
be  held  under  the  law  of  the  land  ;  like  the  tenure  of  property  held  by 
any  individual.  But  it  would  be  persecution,  in  this  country,  to  deny  to 
any  association  of  men  the  privilege  of  possessing  a  building  for  the  wor- 
ship of  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  consciences,  under  the 
general  profession  of  Christianity  ;  and  exclusively  of  all  tenets  contrary 
to  the  terms  of  the  association ;  exclusively,  also,  of  those  who  may  de- 
part from  the  same,  whether  they  may  be  few  or  many.  A  court  is  not 
to  judge  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  in  favour  either  of  one  side  or  of  the 
other ;  but  is  to  ground  its  decision  upon  the  fact  of  their  being  held. 

"  In  one  respect,  however,  there  is  persecution  inflicted  on  both  of  the 
descriptions  of  persons  implicated.  It  is  the  exacting  of  militia  fines  in 
such  a  way  as  gives  license  to  harpies,  to  the  encouragement  of  oppres- 
sion, and  with  injury  to  the  public  morals.  The  evil  might  easily  be  re- 
medied, by  a  law  which  would  not  occasion  any  loss  to  the  revenue 
raised  for  the  military  service." 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE.  317 

into  the  Communion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
^In  the  Appendix,  No.  XI. 

III.       OTHER  WORKS  IN  MANUSCRIPT. 

Seventy-Nine  Sermons. 

An  Essay  on  High  Church  Principles :  with  an 
Appendix. 

A  Conversation  between  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel 
and  one  of  his  Parishioners,  on  the  Subject  of  Con- 
version. 

Conversations  of  a  Minister  with  a  Parishioner,  on 
the  Subject  of  Amusements. 

Opinion  concerning  the  Theatre. 

Tv/o  Remarkable  Facts,  having  a  bearing  on  the 
Calvinistic  Doctrine  of  a  Natural  Hatred  of  God. 

Proposed  Alterations  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  in  the  Articles,  and  in  the  Ordinal;  to  be  sub- 
mitted in  the  event  of  a  Review. — 1826  and  1831. 

Tw^o  Remarks  concerning  the  Homilies. 

A  Thought  concerning  our  Prospects  of  the  Future 
Fate  of  the  Liturgy. 

Doubts  concerning  the  Usual  Interpretation  of  Cer- 
tain Passages  in  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

An  Essay  explaining  and  applying  Matthew  xvi.  6, 
"Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  which  is 
hypocrisy." 

On  the  Question  concerning  the  Ending  of  the  Old 
Century,  and  the  Beginning  of  the  New. 

Remarks  suggested  by  the  Perusal  of  Cuvier's 
Theory  of  the  Earth. 


318  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

An  Address  delivered  at  the  Opening  of  the  New 
Christ  Church  Hospital,  April  1819. 

Remarks  on  a  Narrative  of  a  Death  Bed  Scene. 

Remarks  on  a  Publication  in  the  Recorder,  in  vv^hich 
it  is  affirmed  that  even  the  Words  of  Holy  Scripture 
are  dictated  by  Inspiration. 

Remarks  on  Rev.  Henry  M.  Mason's  Convention 
Sermon,  in  1834. 

Form  of  Prayer  used  at  the  Commencement  in  the 
University,  in  July  1834. 

Prayer  at  the  House  of  Refuge. 

A  small  Volume  of  Prayers  used  at  Meetings  of 
Various  Societies,  and  on  other  Special  Occasions. 

Letter  to  Dr  Caspar  Morris,  concerning  Non-Epis- 
copalian Baptism. 

Letter  to  Dr  Montgomery,  on  the  Question  of  Im- 
putation. 

An  Opinion  on  the  Question  of  Allowable  Latitude 
in  the  use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  :  especially 
intended  with  reference  to  Missionaries. 

An  Opinion  delivered  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  University,  September  28,  1835. 

Letter  to  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  Esq.,  with  the  Re- 
turn of  Lord  Brougham's  "Discourse  on  Natural 
Theology;"  October  21,  1835. 

An  Expression  of  Doubt  concerning  the  Expedi- 
ency of  Temperance  Societies. 

[These,  except  the  small  volume  of  Prayers,  are 
inserted  in  a  List  left  by  the  Bishop.] 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

(Page  57  ante,  in  note.) 

LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  HENRY  V.  D.  JOHNS. 

Philadelphia,  December  29,  1830. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir, 

I  duly  received  your  letter  of  the  17th  instant ;  but  owiag  partly  to 
the  duties  of  the  season,  and  partly  to  the  shortness  of  the  days,  not 
balanced  by  the  length  of  the  evenings  owing  to  the  weakness  of  my 
eyes,  I  have  delayed  every  concern  not  necessarily  demanding  immediate 
attention. 

The  prejudice  encountered  by  you,  exacting  variety  in  your  daily 
prayers  before  the  congress,  is  what  I  have  not  a  particle  of  regard  to ; 
and  I  believe  of  the  states  of  mind  suggesting  it,  that  they  are  not  alto- 
gether the  same  with  those  which  possessed  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
in  their  attendance  on  the  daily  service  of  the  temple,  and  on  the  weekly 
worship  ;  in  which  were  continually  repeated  certain  prayers,  still  ex- 
tant in  the  Jewish  Mishna.  To  go  further  back  :  was  it  ever  known  of 
devout  Jews,  that  they  objected  to  the  sameness  of  the  annual  expres- 
sions of  gratitude  prescribed  to  them  in  Deuteronomy,  xxvi.  1 — 10! 
or,  while  in  the  wilderness,  to  the  daily  repetitions  recorded  in  Numbers, 
X.  35  and  36.  It  is  probable  that  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  delight 
in  variety  in  this  matter,  it  would  be  acceptable  only  in  proportion  as  it 
should  take  the  shape  of  declamation  ;  which  is  a  well  known  property 
of  some  public  prayers,  although  not  of  those  of  our  church. 

Although  the  dictates  of  divine  wisdom  ought  to  be  sufficient  in  this 
matter,  yet  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark  the  ground  of  them  in  human 
nature.  Addresses  designed  for  instruction  or  for  persuasion,  derive 
advantage  from  a  reasonable  measure  of  variety  ;  but  as  for  compositions 
which  are  to  be  expressive  of  our  feelings,  words  which  have  often  ex- 
cited in  us  a  certain  species  of  sensibility  are  more  likely  than  any  other 
words  to  produce  the  same  effect  by  repetitions.  The  principle  might 
be  illustrated  in  the  effects  of  various  species  of  composition,  from  the 
2  c 


322  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

most  exalted  strains  of  doxology  to  thoae  popular  ballads  which  interest 
the  popular  mind.  If  the  object  be  the  display  of  the  eloquence  of  a 
public  speaker,  it  is  another  matter. 

In  regard  to  what  you  inquire  concerning  your  officiating  in  the 
public  hall  on  Sundays  ;  it  is  new  to  me  that  any  service  is  required  of 
the  chaplain  of  either  house  except  when  they  are  constitutionally  assem- 
bled. When  I  have  officiated  where  the  attendants  could  not  be  supposed 
acquainted  with  our  services,  as  in  the  jail  and  in  the  bettering  house  of 
this  city,  and  sometimes  before  unorganized  congregations  in  the  country, 
I  have  not  scrupled  to  omit  the  responsive  portions,  in  order  to  avoid  an 
incongruity  which  would  be  a  disparagement  of  the  services.  But  in  a 
stated  exercise  I  should  hold  myself  bound  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  ob- 
tain the  aid  of  at  least  a  few  to  make  the  responses  ;  so  important  do  I 
deem  that  feature  in  our  institutions,  which  invites  the  vocal  concurrence 
of  the  people  in  the  exercises  of  prayer  and  praise.  How  far,  in  your 
case,  necessity  requires  the  dispensing  with  what  would  stamp  our  ser- 
vice with  impropriety,  I  submit  to  your  discretion,  so  far  as  my  solicited 
opinion  is  concerned,  to  determine.  But  I  put  a  bar  to  the  perverting  of 
an  apparent  necessity  to  the  imitating  of  so  many  of  our  fellow  Chris- 
tians, in  their  depriving  of  the  people  of  the  primitive  right  of  joining 
vocally  in  the  prayers.  Even  the  moderate  privilege  of  an  Amen  is 
taken  away  from  them,  notwithstanding  the  sanction  given  to  it  by  St 
Paul  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  16  :  the  substitute  for  which  is  the  solitary  Amen  of 
the  minister  ;  and  of  this  I  am  sorry  occasionally  to  witness  an  imitation 
in  some  of  the  clergy  of  our  church. 

My  practice,  in  the  presence  of  each  house  of  congress,  was  in  the 
following  series  :  the  Lord's  prayer ;  the  collect  for  Ash  Wednesday ; 
that  for  peace  ;  that  for  grace  ;  the  prayer  for  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  the  prayer  for  Congress  ;  the  prayer  for  all  conditions  of  men  ; 
the  general  thanksgiving  ;  St  Chrysostom's  prayer ;  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  &c. 

That  in  this  matter,  and  in  every  other,  you  may  be  so  guided  as  to 
satisfy  your  own  conscience,  and  advance  the  glory  of  God,  is  the  wish 
and  the  prayer  of  your  affectionate  brother, 

Wm  white. 


APPENDIX.  323 

11. 

(Page  104  ante.) 

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MP^  CHARLES  MILLER. 

These  documents  are  thus  endorsed  by  Dr  White :  "  Copies  of  two 
letters  to  Mr  Charles  Miller  of  Boston,  occasioned  by  his  sending  to  me 
the  prayer  book  of  the  society  meeting  in  what  had  been  called  King's 
Chapel.  The  book  was  sent  soon  after  the  general  convention  of  1785. 
I  supposed  at  the  time,  and  the  supposition  was  justified  by  circuni-, 
stances,  that  the  step  was  taken  by  the  principal  agents  in  what  I  con- 
.sider  as  a  most  unjustifiable  transaction — the  wresting  of  a  place  ot' 
worship  from  the  Episcopal  Church.  It  happened,  as  I  understood,  thus. 
Many  of  the  members  of  the  congregation  had  gone  to  Nova  Scotia  and 
elsewhere,  from  disaffection  to  the  American  cause.  Their  pews  were 
let  to  persons,  sundry  of  whom  had  never  professed  themselves  of  the 
church ;  to  the  members  of  Vi^hich  they  had  no  other  affinity  in  principle 
than  what  consisted  in  dissatisfaction  with  the  system  then  generally 
preached  in  Boston.  Thus  a  majority  was  produced,  to  whom  were 
sacrificed  the  rights  of  the  real  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  The 
remembrance  of  the  manoeuvre  should  be  perpetuated,  for  the  guarding 
against  the  like  in  future.  W.  W." 

Boston,  November  12,  1785. 
Reverend  Sir : 

I  take  the  liberty  to  present  you  with  a  reformed  liturgy,  Vi^hich  is 
used  in  the  first  Episcopal  church  in  this  town  (at  which  I  attend) ;  and 
ask  the  favour  of  your  acceptance  thereof. 

After  you  have  examined  the  book,  I  should  be  exceedingly  happy  in 
having  your  opinion  on  the  same  ;  and  if  there  are  any  errors  crept  in, 
that  you  would  be  so  kind  as  to  point  them  out,  which  I  shall  receive 
with  pleasure. 

You  will  please  to  excuse  the  freedom  I  have  taken  in  writing  to  you 
without  any  acquaintance  or  introduction.  I  have  requested  my  friend, 
Mr  Anthony,  to  deliver  the  book  in  person.  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
reverend  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

Reverend  Mr  White.  CHARLES  MILLER. 

December  1,  1785. 
S;r, 
1  received  from  the  hands  of  Captain  Anthony  your  obliging  present 


324  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

of  the  prayer  book,  together  with  your  polite  letter  ;  for  both  of  which  I 
request  you  to  accept  of  my  grateful  acknowledgements. 

As  you  have  invited  my  opinion  of  tJiat  performance,  I  think  it  my  . 
duty  to  comply.     As  it  is  honestly  given,  I  hope   it  will  be  charitably 
received  ;  and  that  my  presuming  to  object  will  not  be  thought  to  proceed 
from  my  taking  a  pleasure  in  doing  so. 

There  are  certain  general  principles,  sir,  without  the  observance  of 
which  no  religious  communion  can  be  permanently  maintained.  1  shall 
mention  but  one :  connecting  it  with  its  application  to  the  present  situa- 
tion of  the  Episcopal  Church.  It  is  this — that  as  our  several  congrega- 
tions were  parts  or  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  have  been 
separated  from  her  by  a  political  revolution,  we  ought  to  keep  in  view 
the  characteristics  of  that  church,  in  the  adapting  of  our  system  to  our 
new  situation.  There  is  a  certain  pai-t  of  her,  to  continue  which  would 
be  inconsistent  with  our  civil  duties,  to  which  those  of  revealed  religion 
can  never  be  in  opposition.  Farther,  our  Church,  like  all  other  indepen- 
dent societies,  may  make  such  improvements  in  her  service  as  she  thinks 
it  admits  of  consistently  with  her  known  principles.  But  for  some  of  us 
to  depart  from  the  leading  principles  of  her  system  ;  or  to  make  needful 
alterations,  in  such  a  manner  as  is  inconsistent  with  the  whole  tenor  of 
her  ecclesiastical  government ;  is,  I  conceive,  not  the  way  to  relieve  her 
tVom  her  present  disjointed  state.  If  we  think  the  church  essentially 
wrong  in  these  matters,  we  have  a  happy  resource  in  the  glorious  free- 
dom of  our  country  ;  which  permits  us  either  to  join  any  other  religious 
society  or  to  found  a  new  church,  agreeably  to  our  own  ideas  of  the 
gospel  plan. 

On  the  preceding  principle,  I  think  your  congregation  will  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  justify  these  two  things  :  First,  their  leaving  out  every  invocation 
of  the  Redeemer ;  and  secondly,  the  making  of  the  alterations  of  the 
liturgy  a  congregational  act.  The  invoking  of  the  Redeemer  has  been 
too  conspicuous  a  part  of  our  services  to  be  set  aside  by  some  of  us,  con- 
sistently with  any  reasonable  expectation  of  continuing  of  the  same 
communion  with  the  rest.  For  I  think  it  is  very  improbable  that  those 
persons  who  believe  Jesus  Christ  to  have  been  worshipped  by  his  imme- 
diate disciples,  who  are  convinced  that  it  was  the  badge  of  the  first 
Christians  that  they  called  on  his  name,  and  v;ho  know  that  the  being 
whom  they  have  been  accustomed  to  invoke  the  very  angels  are  said  to 
have  worshipped,  will  join  in  communion  with  a  church  where  the  ad- 
dressing of  their  Saviour  is  set  aside  ;  whether  the  motive  be  to  stigma- 
tize it  as  unchristian,  or  to  accommodate  the  service  to  Arians  and  Soci- 
nians.  If  I  am  wrong  in  this  suggestion,  I  should  be  happy  to  be  cor- 
rected ;  but  I  was  led  to  it  by  the  circumstance  that  they  who  believe 
in  Christ's  divinity  have  held  it  to  be  too  important,  and  too  closely 
connected  with  other  doctrines  held  essential,  to  permit  an  accommoda- 
tion to  the  principles  of  the  sects  above  mentioned. 

Here  give  me  leave  to  take  notice  of  a  sentence  in  the  preface,  which 


APPENDIX.  325 

has  a  strong  tendency  to  mislead  the  reader ;  which  I  hope  was  not  in- 
tended.  It  is  that  concerning  the  "  Gloria  Patri."  Whenever  that  form 
may  have  been  introduced  as  a  doxology,  for  the  completing  of  particular 
acts  of  worship  ;  the  giving  of  glory  to  the  Lord  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  unquestionably  of  a  much  earlier  date  than  the  time  of  Pope  Dama- 
sus  ;  the  contrary  to  which  the  preface  insinuates :  for  otherwise,  the 
time  of  its  being  introduced  in  that  form  could  have  been  no  reason  for 
discontinuing  it. 

If  the  latter  part  of  the  suggestion  be  the  object,  your  service  is  noi 
yet  accommodated  to  the  principles  of  all  the  Socinians,  many  of  whom 
deny  there  being  any  state  of  existence  between  death  and  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  and  their  modern  leader,  Dr  Priestley,  even  looks  on  the  doctrine, 
that  there  is  such  a  substance  or  agent  as  the  human  soul,  as  one  of  the 
greatest  corruptions  of  Christianity.  However,  I  believe  that  any 
stranger  to  your  society  would  presume  that  you  have  not  accommodated 
in  this  instance. 

On  the  subject  of  the  worship  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  avail  myself  of  the 
veneration  in  which  your  sociecy  hold  Dr  S.  Clarke,  to  refer  you  to  his 
"  Scripture  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,"  p.  137,  8vo  ed.  You  will  read 
as  many  texts  as  fill  several  pages  directly  to  this  purpose  ;  and  let  me 
request  you  seriously  to  consider  whether,  if  those  passages  prove  the 
point  for  which  they  were  brought  by  Dr  Clarke,  any  Christian  ought  to 
omit  the  duty.  And  I  also  request  you  to  turn  to  his  sermon  "  on  the 
Power  and  Authority  of  Christ,"  (vol.  6,  s.  4,)  as  a  proof  how  far  his 
tenets  were  from  those  of  Arians  and  Socinians.  Let  me  also  refer  you, 
m  regard  to  both  these  subjects,  to  his  paraphrase  on  the  Evangelists, 
at  the  following  places:  St  John,  i.  ;  xx.  28 ;  St  Luke,  xxiv.  52; 
St  Matthew,  xxviii.  17.  I  cannot  reconcile  myself  to  the  manner  in 
which  Dr  Clarke's  name  has  been  made  use  of  both  by  your  society 
and  Mr  Lindsey  :  the  professing  to  reform  the  liturgy  according  to  his 
plan,  when  the  deviation  is  so  much  greater  than  his  system  required, 
appearing  to  me  not  altogether  just  to  the  memory  of  a  great  and  good 
man.* 

I  am  not  a  friend  to  those  metaphysical  distinctions  which  have  per- 
plexed  the  present  subject,  and  discredited  divine  truth.  The  invoking 
and  worshipping  of  Jesus  Christ  was  the  practice  of  the  church  long 
before  those  subtleties  were  known,  as  you  may  be  informed  by  many 
and  clear  passages  in  the  anti-Nicene  fathers. 

Secondly,  sir,  I  took  the  liberty  to  object  to  your  making  of  your 
liturgy  a  congregational  act  ;  which  is  inconsistent  with  the  whole  tenor 
of  the  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  Church  of  England.  Notwitl^ 
standing  the  liberal  definition  which  the  articles  give  of  a  visible  church,' 
I  presume  it  will  never  be  contended  for  as  the  meaning,  that  where  there 

*  Wlien  afterwards  in  England,  I  saw  Dr  Clarke'^  prayer  book,  as  altered  by  his  own 
hand,  in  the  British  Museum.  It  did  not  materially  difler  from  those  of  Mr  Lindsey  aiid 
the  society  in  Boston. 


326  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

are  several  neighbouring  congregations,  especially  in  the  sarne  city  or 
town,  they  may,  consistently  with  order  and  propriety,  be  left  each  to  its 
congregational  government.  This  would  be  foreign  to  every  idea  of 
Episcopal  government ;  which  supposes,  let  the  authority  of  bishops  be 
more  or  less,  that  the  flock  is  under  a  diocesan,  and  not  under  a  congre- 
gational discipline.  But  that  tliis  can  be  the  case,  and  yet  each  congre- 
gation  be  left  to  model  its  liturgy,  I  cannot  conceive  possible.  The 
articles  you  quote  as  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies,  certainly  never  meant 
that  they  might  be  different  in  the  same  diocese  ;  and  I  do  not  believe 
that  history  furnishes  an  instance  of  an  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  the 
different  congregations  composing  it,  did  not  follow  the  same  directory 
of  worship.  So  fully  am  I  in  this  sentiment,  as  to  believe  that  in  the 
case  of  perseverance  in  your  present  plan,  you  cannot  long  continue  to 
profess  yourselves  Episcopalians,  unless  in  a  sense  in  which  the  word  is 
not  customarily  used. 

Hitherto,  sir,  I  have  rested  my  argument  only  on  a  general  principle 
of  ecclesiastical  policy.  But  give  me  leave  briefly  to  suggest,  that  should 
my  apprehensions  be  well  founded,  of  your  society  becoming  either  Arian 
or  Socinian,  or  congregational  in  government,  or  both,  I  might  rest  my 
argument  on  moral  obligation,  in  respect  to  the  keeping  of  possession  of 
the  house  heretofore  known  by  the  name  of  King's  Chapel.  Our  churches, 
and  other  property  belonging  to  them,  were  evidently  bought  and  given 
as  to  component  parts  of  a  church,  the  great  outlines  of  whose  doctrine 
and  government  were  well  known.  But  for  a  majority  of  a  congregation 
to  destroy  these,  and  so,  of  course,  to  compel  the  minority  to  give  up 
their  interest  in  the  said  property,  in  order  to  seek  what  they  conceive  to 
be  the  pure  word  of  God,  or  a  more  Christian  worship,  elsewhere ;  is,  I 
humbly  apprehend,  to  deprive  them  of  their  just  rights  :  whereas  no  in- 
jury is  offered,  in  expecting  a  majority  to  relinquish  an  interest,  if  they 
can  no  longer  comply  with  the  terms  on  which  it  was  given.  I  am  the 
freer  in  expressing  this  sentiment,  as  it  is  said  to  be  the  ground  on  which 
a  court  and  jury  in  this  city,  not  long  since,  determined  a  controversy 
between  two  parties,  concerning  the  possession  of  a  house  of  worship. 
In  the  cause  alluded  to  facts  were  much  disputed,  and  I  am  not  suffi- 
ciently master  of  them  to  give  an  opinion  ;  but  the  principle  is  allowed 
by  all  to  be  wise  and  just.* 

Let  me,  sir,  entreat  you  to  recollect  how  much  more  serviceable  it  will 
be  to  the  common  cause  of  Christianity,  if  we  can  accomplish  a  great 
and  liberal  plan  for  connecting  in  one  system  the  members  of  our  widely 
extended  communion  ;  rather  than  for  every  congregation  to  be  in  all 
respects  self-governed  :  or,  if  this  cannot  be,  that  we  may  at  least  con- 
tinue one  in  each  state.  I  am  amazed  that  the  importance  of  this  is  not 
:  more  seen,  in  relation  to  the  guarding  against  the  progress  of  a  church 

*  There  was  subsequently  a  protest  of  the  minority  of  the  house  called  King's  Chapel, 
against  the  wrons  done  to  them. 


ii 


APPENDIX.  327 


as  yet  scarcely  known  in  your  country.  When  the  church  of  Rome 
claims  the  subjection  of  all  Christendom  to  St  Peter's  chair,  the  rise  of 
her  power  is  too  well  known  for  the  pretension  to  have  weight ;  but 
when  she  shall  talk  of  the  unity  of  the  members  of  the  church  in  the  same 
neighbourhood  or  district,  and  of  their  being  linked  together  under  one 
common  head,  antiquity  will  be  so  much  on  her  side,  that  I  am  afraid  it 
will  make  many  take  the  less  exception  to  her  erroneous  doctrines.  Of 
all  the  members  of  the  Protestant  body,  the  Church  of  England  has  been 
thought  the  strongest  bulwark  against  her,  from  the  circumstance  of 
retaining  more  than  others  of  those  ancient  institutions  which  were  prior 
to  her  corruptions.  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  our  communion's  losing 
in  the  new  world  what  has  been  our  glory  in  the  old. 

I  will  suggest  another  danger.  Should  any  church  hereafter  avail  it- 
self of  the  having  of  its  parts  united,  to  establish  itself  on  the  ruins  of 
others,  what  a  feeble  opposition  will  it  meet  from  such  societies  as  have 
not  the  same  advantage  !  The  danger  alluded  to  arises  from  the  frailties 
of  human  nature,  and  is  not  mentioned  as  a  reflection  on  any  ;  but  we 
are  to  be  aware,  that  every  impediment  thrown  in  the  way  of  future  am- 
bitious zealots  is  an  act,  as  well  of  good  citizenship,  as  of  religion. 

I  may,  sir,  have  mistaken  the  principles  of  your  society,  not  having 
received  any  account  of  them  in  the  way  of  conversation  or  of  corres- 
pondence. The  notoriety  of  my  having  no  personal  prejudice  to  gratify 
in  this  matter,  has  emboldened  me  to  be  the  more  free  in  my  observa- 
tions ;  which,  if  they  should  seem  to  approach  to  rudeness,  I  request  you 
to  interpret  more  according  to  the  intention  than  the  expression  :  giving 
them  the  most  inoffensive  construction  they  will  bear. 

I  request  your  acceptance  of  the  journal  of  a  late  ecclesiastical  con- 
vention, with  all  that  the  press  affords  of  their  prayer  book  ;  which  I 
shall  inclose  to  you  from  lime  to  time  as  the  sheets  shall  come  out. 
Should  our  eastern  brethren  have  any  improvements  to  propose,  the  con- 
vention that  is  to  meet  in  June  will  give  them  an  impartial  consideration, 
if  the  same  disposition  prevail  as  in  the  last. 

Having  written  so  freely  of  the  affairs  of  a  congregation  in  your  town, 
and  being  acquainted  with  one  clergyman  resident  there  (the  Reverend 
Mr  Parker),  I  have  thought  it  a  point  of  delicacy  to  request  his  perusal 
of  my  letter  before  its  being  sealed  and  sent  to  you.  I  am,  sir,  with 
respect. 

Your  obliged  and  very  humble  servant, 

Wm  white. 

P.S.  I  purposely  avoided,  sir,  saying  any  thing  in  my  letter  of  some 
of  the  alterations  in  your  liturgy  which,  in  my  eye,  rendered  the  parts  so 
altered  less  beautiful  and  affecting.  But  afterwards,  when  I  considered 
how  much  we  have  always  boasted  of  the  superior  excellency  of  our  ser- 
vice in  these  respects,  I  determined  to  throw  myself  on  your  candour, 
with  the  following  observations  : 


328  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

1st.  I  wonder  at  your  turning  of  the  absolution  into  a  prayer  ;  which 
appears  to  me  not  to  come  so  properly  in  that  place,  as  a  recital  of  God's 
compassionate  goodness  to  all  those  who  have  used  the  preceding  con- 
fession in  a  proper  temper  of  mind. 

2d.  Your  doxology,  however  proper  in  substance,  will  bear  the  objec- 
tion, that  there  seems  the  intention  to  enumerate  the  attributes  of  God  ; 
which,  yet,  is  imperfectly  done. 

3d.  In  your  prayer  for  Congress  you  have  lost  a  beauty  which  pervades 
all  the  prayers  of  our  Church — a  correspondency  between  the  attribute 
or  appellation  of  God  in  the  beginning  and  the  body  of  the  petition  :  for 
there  seems  no  connection  between  the  Almighty's  being  a  king  of  kings 
and  lord  of  lords,  and  a  prayer  for  congress. 

4th.  In  the  "  prayer  for  Christ's  Church  militant,"  the  leaving  out  the 
word  "  Christian"  before  "  rulers,"  seems  to  me  to  involve  the  impro- 
priety that  you  pray  for  infidel  rulers,  should  there  be  any,  as  members 
of  the  Christian  church.  We  ought  to  pray  for  such  rulers,  but  ought 
not  to  call  them  Christians. 

5th.  I  cannot  see  any  thing  in  your  Catechism  entitling  it  to  super- 
sede that  in  the  old  liturgy.  I  know  that  some  have  blamed  the  latter 
as  not  being  sufficiently  comprehensive  ;  but,  perhaps,  such  persons  con- 
found the  idea  of  a  catechism  with  that  of  a  body  of  divinity.  Yours, 
indeed,  cannot  be  blamed  as  deep  or  abstruse ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  are  many  things  in  ii  which,  however  proper  they  might  be  in 
familiar  discourse  between  a  parent  and  a  child,  do  not  appear  to  me  fit 
parts  of  a  catechism. 

Let  me  add,  that  you  have  kept  in  some  things  which  have  been  faulted 
by  many  wise  and  conscientious  persons,  and  cannot  be  contended  for  as 
necessary  by  any  :  for  instance,  the  expression  in  the  burial  service, 
which  pronounces  so  positively  on  the  state  of  the  deceased.  Perhaps, 
too,  you  have  been  over  cautious  in  regard  to  the  Psalms. 

Observations  of  this  sort  I  offer  with  great  submission ;  there  being 
none  of  them  which  I  would  not  be  ready  to  sacrifice  to  the  sense  of 
any  society  of  men  of  which  I  might  happen  to  be  a  member. 

I  ought  not  to  leave  you  with  the  impression  that  there  are  none  of 
your  changes  which  I  can  praise.  Y'our  use  of  the  passage  from  Mark 
xii.  I  very  much  admire.  In  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Church,  I  am  told, 
the  recital  of  the  ten  commandments,  or  of  what  you  have  added,  is  left 
to  discretion.  If  only  one  were  kept,  I  should  prefer  the  former,  on 
account  of  the  use  of  reciting  so  particularly  in  the  hearing  of  the  peo- 
ple God's  commands  against  crimes  :  especially  with  the  solemn  petition 
annexed  to  each  command.  But  I  see  no  improper  repetition  in  intro- 
ducing a  passage  by  which  the  same  commands  derive  additional  weight 
from  the  authority  of  one  greater  than  Moses.  For  this  reason  perhaps 
it  would  have  been  still  better  to  have  placed  it  immediately  after  the  ten 
commandments. 

Your  injunction  to  parents,  in  the  baptismal  service,  I  think  very  good  ; 


APPENDIX.  329 

and  some  parts  of  it  miglit  have  been  beautifully  incorporated  with  the 
old  charge ;  which  must  also  be  allowed  to  be  excellent. 
Once  more  I  entreat  your  candid  reception  of  my  remarks. 

Dear  Sir : 

I  have  received  your  polite  letter  of  December  3d,  in  answer  to  that 
which  I  did  myself  the  honour  to  write  to  you.  The  observations  con- 
tained in  it,  so  far  from  giving  offence,  afford  me  peculiar  pleasure,  as 
they  are  expressed  with  moderation  and  candour.  Unhappy,  indeed,  I 
am  to  find  that  the  new  liturgy  of  our  congregation  is  not  approved  by  a 
gentleman  of  Dr  White's  well  known  learning  and  abilities.  And  I  am 
sorry  to  add,  that  the  objections  which  you  make  against  it  do  not,  in 
general,  appear  to  be  well  founded ;  and  that  I  can  yet  see  no  reason  for 
altering  my  opinion,  that  the  reformation  it  contains  is  expedient,  just 
and  necessary. 

It  would  be  presumption  in  me,  who  from  my  profession  have  had  no 
opportunity  of  acquiring  a  profound  knowledge  in  divinity,  to  enter  into 
a  controversy  with  a  gentleman  who  has  employed  so  many  years  in  that 
study.  I  think  it  my  duty,  however,  to  return  such  replies  to  your  obser- 
vations as  have  naturally  suggested  themselves  to  me,  and  which  have 
been  furnished  by  a  friend  to  whom  I  have  shown  your  letter.  I  trust, 
sir,  that  you,  who  appear  to  be  a  sincere  lover  of  truth,  will  not  be  dis- 
pleased with  their  freedom. 

Though  the  unity  of  the  Church  in  the  same  doctrines  and  modes  of 
worship,  is  undoubtedly  a  very  desirable  blessing,  yet  it  must  be  allowed 
that  truth,  or  what  is  thought  to  be  truth,  is  an  object  which  is  still  more 
worthy  the  esteem  of  Christians  and  honest  men.  It  is  upon  this  prin- 
ciple that  any  single  congregation  has  a  clear  right  to  dissent  from  any 
church  or  large  body  of  Christians,  provided  they  be  supposed  to  be 
essentially  erroneous.  This  point  you  have  conceded,  and  your  conces- 
sion appears  to  me  fully  to  justify  the  conduct  of  the  society  belonging  to 
the  Stone  Chapel.  The  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  was  believed  by 
that  society  to  be  essentially  erroneous  with  respect  to  the  object  of 
prayer — for  they  conceived  that  they  are  expressly  commanded  by  our 
Saviour  and  his  apostles  to  pray  to  God,  and  to  God  only.  Unwilling, 
however,  to  disturb  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church,  or  to  do  any  thing 
which  should  offend  their  Episcopal  brethren,  for  whom  they  entertain 
the  sincerest  affection,  they  waited  with  patience  till  the  result  of  the 
convention,  which  was  held  at  New  York  October  1784,  was  known. 
When,  however,  they  found  it  was  established  as  a  fundamental  princi- 
ple by  that  convention,  that  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America  "  shall 
maintain  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  as  now  held  by  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  shall  adhere  to  the  liturgy  of  the  said  Church  as  far  as  shall  be 
consistent  with  the  American  revolution,"  &c. — they  concluded  that  no 
more  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  that  as  there  was  no  expectation  that  a 
great  and  liberal  reformation  would  be  made,  they  had  an  undoubted  right 


330  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

to  deliver  themselves  from  what  seemed  to  them  unscriptural  imposi- 
tions. Still  they  hoped  that  they  might  be  considered  a  part  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  as  they  maintained  the  expediency  of  Episcopal  ordina- 
tion, which  they  conceived  to  be  the  most  essential  article  of  an  Episcopal 
Church,  and  tliat  their  brethren  would  not  deem  it  either  politic  or  charitable 
to  reject  them  from  their  communion  merely  on  account  of  difference  in 
opinion.  Some  reasonable  expectations  were  entertained  that  the  con- 
vention which  was  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  would  expunge  all  dispu- 
table doctrines  (and  the  doctrine  of  the  7'rinity  is  certainly  disputable,  to 
say  nothing  more  of  it),  and  whilst  they  inserted  no  expressions  in  the 
liturgy  which  could  wound  an  Athanasian,  that  they  would  leave  out  all 
which  would  hurt  the  conscience  of  a  Unitarian.  In  a  word,  they  hoped 
that  a  comprehensive  plan,  which  would  include  all  Protestant  Episco- 
palians, however  differing  in  sentiments,  would  be  adopted,  and  that  a 
Church  would  be  erected  upon  the  broad  basis,  not  of  unity  of  opinion, 
for  that,  in  the  present  imperfect  state  of  human  nature,  is  impossible, 
but  of  unity  of  affection  and  charity.  I  cannot  forbear  thinking  that  the 
new  liturgy  used  by  our  congregation  is  of  this  comprehensive  nature, 
and  that  every  sect  may  conscientiously  adopt  it.  It  is  general  and  in- 
definite, like  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  every  sect  may  reason  from  it, 
as  from  the  sacred  Scriptures,  in  defence  of  their  peculiar  tenets.  If 
God  has  not  condescended  to  reveal  himself  fully  in  the  Bible,  upon  seve- 
ral articles  of  our  faith,  it  certainly  does  not  become  us  to  attempt  to  be 
wise  above  that  which  he  has  written.  If  we  adhere  to  scriptural  modes 
of  expression,  we  are  in  no  danger  of  erring  :  but  if,  from  supposing  them 
not  sufficiently  definite,  we  aim  at  being  more  precise  and  determinate ; 
and,  from  mistaken  principles  of  gratitude  and  piety,  pay  to  any  being,  to 
our  blessed  Saviour  for  instance,  that  adoration,  for  which  we  have  no 
authority  in  the  inspired  writings ;  we  are  justly  chargeable  with  render- 
ing an  homage  which  God  has  not  required  at  our  hands,  and,  perhaps, 
with  giving  to  another  that  glory  which  he  has  reserved  for  himself  only. 
To  this  reasoning,  possibly  an  Athanasian  may  not  assent.  But  should 
he  not,  I  see  no  reason  why  he  may  not  conscientiously  make  use  of  the 
new  liturgy.  For  if  he  supposes  that  the  word  God,  whenever  it 
occurs  in  the  Scriptures,  intends  a  being  consisting  of  three  persons 
mystically  united  in  one  substance,  he  may  also  suppose  the  same  thing 
of  the  word  God  when  he  repeats  it  in  his  prayers.  As  he  professes 
to  believe,  not  less  firmly  than  the  Arian  or  even  the  Socinian  himself, 
that  God  is  one,  he  ought  not,  by  dividing  the  Deity  as  it  were  into  three 
parts  in  his  acts  of  devotion,  to  suggest  that  he  imagines  there  are  more 
Gods  than  one.  Let  the  incomprehensible  mystery  of  the  Trinity  exist  in 
the  mind,  but  let  it  exist  there  as  a  point  of  speculation  only ;  and  let  not 
the  Athanasian,  by  continually  expressing  his  belief  of  it  in  his  prayers, 
prevent  the  conscientious  Unitarian  from  joining  in  his  devotions.  With 
equal  reason,  propriety  and  charity,  might  an  Arian  suggest  in  his  pray- 


APPENDIX.  831 

ers,  that  there  once  was  a  time  when  our  Saviour  did  not  exist,  or  the 
Socinian,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  nothing  but  a  man. 

It  was  hoped  by  the  congregation  worshipping  at  the  Chapel,  that 
observations  similar  to  those  which  I  have  now  made  would  engage  the 
atttention  of  the  venerable  and  learned  convention  which  was  to  meet  at 
Philadelphia.  Or,  if  such  a  plan  should  be  thought  too  general  and  inde- 
finite to  suit  the  Athanasians,  to  whom,  as  they  must  be  allowed  to  be 
the  largest  body  of  Episcopalians  in  these  states,  much  indulgence  is  due, 
they  might  be  permitted  a  full  use  of  Trinitarian  forms,  without  others 
being  compelled  to  adopt  them.  The  34th  of  the  Articles  of  the  Church 
of  England  says — "That  it  is  not  necessary  that  traditions  and  ceremo- 
nies  be  in  all  places  one  or  utterly  like."  Had  a  more  general  and  en- 
larged idea  been  expressed  in  the  article,  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  have 
contributed  more  to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Church.  For  it  ap- 
pears evident  to  me  that  it  is  not  necessary  that  traditions,  ceremo- 
nies, doctrines  and  public  prayers  be  one  or  utterly  like  even  in  different 
congregations  of  the  same  Church.  For  were  the  several  congregations 
which  compose  a  church  permitted  to  make  such  alterations  and  omis- 
sions in  the  liturgy  as  might  appear  to  them  necessary,  they  might  for 
ever  continue  united  as  one  body,  under  their  Episcopal  heads,  however 
various  their  sentiments  might  be.  The  Athanasian,  whilst  his  conscience 
would  not  allow  him  to  leave  out  the  petitions  to  the  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost,  might  rest  satisfied  with  having  these  addresses  printed  in  the 
liturgy,  and  might  cheerfully  and  candidly  permit  the  Unitarian  to  sup- 
press them.  I  know  that  it  was  the  wish  of  many  persons,  besides  those 
who  worship  at  the  Chapel,  that  such  a  plan  might  be  adopted  by  the 
convention.  For  my  own  part,  and  in  this  case  I  believe  I  express  the 
sentiments  of  the  congregation  of  which  I  am  a  member,  I  would,  with 
this  indulgence,  freely  give  up  the  new  liturgy,  and  adopt  that  of  the 
Church  of  England,  as  it  has  been  judiciously  altered  and  amended  at 
Philadelphia.  The  Congregational  Church  of  this  state,  though  the 
several  individuals  who  compose  it  differ  very  widely  in  sentiments,  is 
firmly  united,  because  all  the  ministers  are  left  at  liberty  to  pray  accord- 
ing to  their  consciences.  In  this  instance  I  think  their  practice  is  lauda- 
ble, and  worthy  the  imitation  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  For  though  ex- 
tempore  prayers  (which  I  am  far  indeed  from  approving)  admit  of  a 
greater  latitude  than  printed  forms,  yet  your  excellent  liturgy  might,  with 
a  few  omissions,  easily  be  made  conformable  to  every  Christian  mind. 
Should  the  convention  which  is  to  meet  in  June  determine  not  to  enlarge 
their  plan  to  this  liberal  extent,  the  congregation  worshipping  at  the 
Chapel,  provided  it  persevere  in  its  present  system,  which  I  have  reason 
to  think  it  will  do,  must  be  reduced  to  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  sepa- 
rating itself  from  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  availing  itself  of  that  re- 
source, which  the  glorious  freedom  of  our  country  affords,  of  forming  an 
independent  society. 

After  these  general  observations,  I  perhaps  ought  to  take  some  notice 


332  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

of  the  arguments  which  you  allege  to  justify  praying  to  Christ.  The 
limits  of  a  letter  will  not  permit  me  to  enter  far  into  this  question,  had  1 
abilities  adequate  to  the  task.  The  society  of  the  Chapel  did  not  pre- 
sume to  alter  the  liturgy  till  the  members  of  it  were  fully  convinced,  by 
arguments  drawn  from  the  Scriptures  and  reason,  that  God  is  the  sole 
object  of  prayer.  Reason  taught  them  that  God  is  one,  and  that  it  is 
criminal  in  a  person  who  believes  him  to  be  one  to  bestow  upon  another 
those  honours  which  the  Father  of  the  universe  has  reserved  to  himself. 
They  were  convinced  by  the  Scriptures  that  prayers  ought  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  God  only  ;  because  they  found  that  both  our  Saviour  and  his 
apostles  constantly  prayed  to  God,  and  that  they  have  taught  us  to  do  so. 
I  need  not  quote  the  many  texts  which  relate  to  this  point,  as  a  number 
of  them  are  printed  in  the  preface  of  the  new  liturgy,  and  as  they  must 
be  undoubtedly  well  known  to  a  gentleman  of  your  learning.  They 
could  perceive  no  example  of  any  prayer  to  Christ  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, except  that  very  dubious  one  of  St  Stephen,  and  that  of  St  John, 
Rev.  xxii.  20,  which  is  still  more  dubious.  But  neither  of  these  they 
conceived  sufficient  to  justify  prayer  to  Christ.  For  both  St  Stephen  and 
St  John  saw  Jesus  in  vision  when  they  thus  addressed  him.  Neither  of 
these  objections  they  thought  sufficient  to  overthrow  the  express  com- 
mands  of  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles ;  especially  when  they  found  the 
former  positively  forbidding  his  disciples  to  pray  to  him  after  his  resur- 
rection. John  xvi.  23.  The  two  objections  which  you  have  urged  were 
attended  to,  and  all  due  weight  given  them.  It  was  readily  acceded  that 
Jesus  was  worshipped  by  his  immediate  disciples  and  by  the  angels  ;  but 
the  word  worship  is  used  in  so  indefinite  a  sense  in  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, that  it  was  supposed  that  it  could  not  thence  be  inferred  that  our 
Saviour  is  the  object  of  prayer.  The  following  texts  are  sufficient  to 
show  that  worship  is  sometimes  given  to  men:  1  Chron.  xxix.  20; 
Matt,  xviii.  26.  If  from  our  Saviour's  being  worshipped  it  be  concluded 
that  he  is  the  object  of  prayer,  it  may  with  equal  propriety  be  concluded 
that  David  is  the  object  of  prayer.  The  nature  of  worship  must  be  de- 
termined by  the  character  of  the  being  to  whom  it  is  paid.  If  to  God, 
it  is  supreme  worship  ;  if  to  the  Mediator,  it  is  mediatorial  worship  ;  if 
to  men,  reverence  and  honour  ;  if  to  a  wife  from  her  husband  (see  ma- 
trimonial service),  conjugal  respect  and  tenderness.  Our  society  was 
far  from  denying  that  mediatorial  worship  is  due  to  Jesus  Christ.  This 
kind  of  worship  they  imagined  would  be  fully  expressed  in  the  doxolo- 
gies  to  the  Son,  in  the  benedictions,  in  the  form  of  baptism,  and  in  con- 
cluding all  prayers  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Had  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  believed  that  any  higher  worship  was  necessary,  they  would 
undoubtedly  have  given  us  positive  directions  upon  this  head. 

With  respect  to  the  first  Christians  calling  on  the  name  of  Christ, 
should  the  text  which  contains  that  phrase  be  justly  translated,  it  is  evi- 
dent, as  Dr  Clarke  has  shown,  that  it  is  used  in  a  great  variety  of  senses  ; 
and  that  it  generally  means  either  believing  in  Christ,  acknowledging  him 


APPENDIX.  333 

our  Saviour,  openly  professing  ourselves  Christians,  being  baptized  in 
his  name,  invoking  his  name  upon  diseased  persons  in  order  to  a  mira- 
culous  cure,  praying  in  his  name  or  through  his  intercession,  and  but  in 
one  instance,  that  of  St  Stephen,  (which  I  humbly  conceive  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  justify  prayer  to  Christ),  directly  calling  upon  or  invoking  him. 
The  friend  to  whom  I  have  communicated  your  letter  is  of  opinion  that 
Acts  ix.  14,  tlie  text  to  which  he  supposes  you  principally  allude,  might 
more  justly  be  rendered,  as  it  is  rendered  in  the  Arabic  version,  "  to 
bind  all  who  are  called  by  thy  name,"  that  is,  all  who  are  Christians  or 
who  believe  in  Christ,  the  being  who  appeared  to  Ananias  in  vision ; 
and  that  all  texts  in  which  the  first  Christians  are  said  to  have  called 
upon  Christ  ought  to  be  translated  in  a  similar  manner.  And  this  ren- 
dering  he  conceives  is  fully  justified  by  the  manner  in  which  the  same 
word  which  is  employed  in  this  text  is  translated  in  other  passages  of 
the  New  Testament.  See  Matt.  x.  3  ;  Luke,  xxii.  3  ;  Acts,  i.  23,  x.  18, 
xii.  12,  and  xv.  17;  James,  ii.  7.  Whether  this  opinion  be  just,  you,  sir, 
can  best  determine. 

The  society  of  the  chapel,  though  they  profess  a  great  veneration  for 
Dr  Clarke,  think  themselves  under  no  obligation  of  implicitly  following 
him  or  any  other  uninspired  man.  If  therefore  there  be  any  thing  in  his 
works  which  is  opposed  to  the  new  liturgy,  the  society  deem  themselves 
sufficiently  justified  in  retaining  it,  provided  it  be  not  also  opposed  to  the 
Scriptures.  But  I  confess  I  see  nothing  in  Dr  Clarke's  Scripture  Doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  in  his  sermon  upon  the  power  and  authority  of 
Christ,  or  in  his  paraphrase,  which  justifies  praying  to  our  Saviour  after 
his  resurrection.  Dr  Clarke,  it  is  true,  entertained  a  high  idea  of  the 
power  and  authority  of  Christ,  as  the  members  of  our  society  also  do. 
And  though,  in  his  sermon,  he  condemns  the  opinion  of  Arius,  who 
affirmed  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  had  no  being,  yet  it  would 
be  difficult  to  show  how  in  other  respects  he  differs  from  the  Arians. 
That  great  and  good  man,  as  you  justly  style  him,  took  great  pains  to 
avoid  the  odious  name  of  heretic  ;  but  the  members  of  our  society  are  not 
anxious  upon  this  head  ;  for  whilst  they  are  protected  by  the  laws  against 
persecution,  they  freely  consent  that  their  opponents  should  bestow  upon 
them  the  appellation  of  Arians,  Socinians  or  any  other  harmless  titles 
they  think  proper.  I  am  far  from  thinking  that  our  society  has  deviated 
further  from  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  than  Dr  Clarke's 
system  requires,  though  pc-3sibly  Mr  Lindsey  may  have  done  so.  If 
you  consult  the  account  of  Dr  Clarke's  liturgy,  printed  in  one  of  Mr 
Lindsey's  publications,  you  will  find  that  the  Doctor  has  omitted  every 
petition  to  the  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  or  converted  them  into  prayers  to 
God.  The  opinion  of  the  fathers,  either  before  or  after  the  council  of 
Nice,  is,  I  humbly  conceive,  of  no  consequence  in  a  question  of  this  kind, 
unless  fully  authorized  by  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Nothing  more  is  in- 
tended to  be  insinuated  by  the  passage  in  our  preface  against  which  you 
object  than  that  the  Gloria  Patri  was  composed  by  Damasus,  bishop  of 
2  D 


334  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

Rome,  and  the  doxologies  in  the  new  liturgy  by  St  Paul  and  St  John. 
Should  it  be  true  that  doxologies  to  the  holy  spirit  were  in  use  before 
the  time  of  Damasus,  yet  as  no  such  doxologies  can  be  found  in  the  New 
Testament,  unquestionably  they  ought  not  to  be  made  part  of  public 
worship. 

The  object  of  our  society  in  the  new  liturgy  was  to  leave  out  all  such 
expressions  as  wound  the  conscience  of  a  unitarian,  without  introducing 
any  which  should  displease  a  trinitarian.  They  conceived  themselves 
under  no  obligations  to  accommodate  the  service  to  the  peculiar  specu- 
lative principles  of  Dr  Priestley  or  the  Socinians.  A  multitude  of  dif- 
ferent opinions  may  be  entertained  by  Christians  who  conscientiously 
use  the  same  liturgy ;  because  such  liturgy  need  not  notice  those  opinions. 
A  man  who  denies,  and  a  man  who  affirms,  that  there  is  such  a  sub- 
stance as  the  human  soul,  may  both  join  in  praying  to  God  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

I  have  already  in  some  measure  replied  to  your  second  general  obser- 
vation. But  it  is  necessary  perhaps  further  to  add,  that  it  is  readily  acce- 
ded that  our  making  the  alterations  of  the  liturgy  a  congregational  act  is 
inconsistent  with  the  government  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  com- 
pilers of  the  thirty-nine  articles,  I  allow,  did  not  mean  that  rites  and 
ceremonies  might  be  different  in  the  same  diocese.  This  assertion  and 
others  of  the  same  kind  in  our  preface  are  not  intended  to  express  ideas 
contained  in  the  articles,  but  inferences  which  may  be  justly  drawn  from 
them.  In  the  preface  our  design  is  to  reason  with  those  Episcopalians  who 
adhere  to  the  old  liturgy  upon  their  own  principles.  Should  the  reason 
be  inconclusive,  it  is  of  no  consequence,  as  the  merits  of  our  cause  are 
rested  not  upon  articles  of  human  invention,  but  upon  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. I  would  again  observe  that  no  alteration  vv^as  attempted,  till  the 
opinion  of  the  Episcopal  churches  represented  in  the  New  York  con- 
vention was  known.  But  when  we  found  that  a  reformation  was  not 
likely  to  take  place  with  respect  to  the  great  object  of  religious  worship, 
we  concluded  that  we  had  a  right  to  make  the  correction  of  the  service 
a  congregational  act. 

The  argument  which  you  rest  upon  moral  obhgation,  respecting  our 
society  keeping  possession  of  the  house  heretofore  known  by  the  name 
of  King's  Chapel,  if  it  be  of  any  force,  proves  too  much.  For  it  proves 
that  the  Protestants  in  England,  at  the  reformation,  had  no  right  to  keep 
possession  of  the  churches  built  by  Roman  Catholics,  or  to  compel  the 
minority,  who  adhered  to  the  ancient  doctrines,  to  seek  elsewhere  what 
they  conceived  to  be  a  more  Christian  worship.  And  it  also  proves,  that 
no  Episcopal  congregation  in  America  has  right  to  keep  possession  of  a 
house  of  worship  after  adopting  the  alterations  made  at  your  convention, 
provided  one  or  two  persons  object  against  them.  I  know  that  there  are 
some  Episcopalians  in  this  town  who  are  averse  from  the  least  change ; 
and  I  doubt  not  that  several  of  the  same  disposition  might  be  found  in 
different  parts  of  the  continent.     You  seem,  sir,  by  your  manner  of  ex- 


APPENDIX.  335 

pressing  yourself,  to  suppose  that  the  chapel  was  the  gift  of  the  king  of 
England,  or  of  some  person  not  a  member  of  the  society.  I  beg  leave  to 
undeceive  you  in  this  matter.  Towards  the  erection  of  the  present  edi- 
fice several  generous  donations  were  indeed  received  ;  but  the  principal 
weight  of  the  expense  was  sustained  by  individuals  of  the  society.  The 
building  became  the  property  of  those  who  purchased  pews ;  and  the 
present  pew  holders  are  either  original  proprietors  or  have  purchased  in 
under  those  who  were.  The  minority,  consisting  of  not  more  than  half 
a  dozen  proprietors,  are  not  deprived  of  their  property  in  the  house,  but 
are  at  liberty  to  keep  possession  or  sell,  as  they  see  fit. 

I  agree  with  you,  sir,  that  the  progress  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
ought  to  be  guarded  against  with  the  utmost  vigilance.  But  I  humbly 
conceive  that  the  ambitious  schemes  of  that  Church,  or  of  any  other  en- 
terprising zealots,  will  most  effectually  be  crushed  by  the  Episcopal 
Church  accomplishing  a  plan  which  will  be  truly  great  and  liberal.  For 
whilst  she  tenaciously  adheres  to  disputable  doctrines  many  conscientious 
persons  will  be  prevented  from  joining  her  communion,  though  they 
might  otherwise  be  engaged  by  the  general  propriety  and  beauty  of  her 
worship.  There  is  also  reason  to  apprehend  that  other  congregations, 
besides  that  of  which  I  am  a  member,  will,  should  they  become  Unita- 
rians in  doctrine,  separate  themselves  from  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
form  themselves  into  independent  societies.  Should  Unitarian  senti- 
ments spread  as  rapidly  in  America  as  Ihey  have  the  last  century  in 
England,  revolts  from  the  Episcopal  Church  may  become  very  frequent, 
as  no  causes  of  an  interested  nature  exist  here  to  prevent  a  separation. 

I  sincerely  thank  you,  sir,  for  the  observations  contained  in  the  post- 
script of  your  letter.  Some  of  them  appear  to  me  of  weight ;  and  if  I 
venture  to  say  that  others  seem  to  be  of  less  importance,  I  hope  you  will 
pardon  my  presumption. 

The  absolution  in  the  new  liturgy  is  converted  into  a  prayer,  because 
.  it  has  given  offence  to  many,  and  looks  too  much  like  a  relic  of  popery. 
Our  society  conceived  that  the  power  of  remitting  sins,  communicated  to 
the  apostles,  is  not  continued  down  to  the  ministers  of  the  present  day. 
Should,  however,  the  absolution  be  unexceptionable,  it  cannot  be  pre- 
tended that  there  is  any  thing  in  the  prayer  which  is  improper. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  defend  the  doxology  of  the  new  liturgy  against 
that  of  the  old.  If  the  enumeration  of  the  attributes  of  the  Deity  be  too 
imperfectly  made  for  so  solemn  an  act  of  public  worship,  it  is  the  fault  of 
the  apostle. 

I  cannot  conceive  that  in  our  prayer  for  Congress  we  have  lost  that 
beauty  which  you  mention.  A  supreme  power,  I  apprehend,  resides  in 
a  republic  not  less  than  in  a  monarchy  ;  though  the  governments  differ 
in  this  respect,  that  in  the  latter  the  authority  is  vested  in  one  hereditary 
sovereign,  and  in  the  former  it  is  delegated  to  many  persons.  The  Con- 
gress, our  sovereign  head,  may,  adopting  the  poetical  language  of  the 
Scriptures,  with  propriety  be  styled  our  king,  our  lord.     The  same  ob- 


336  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

jection  which  you  have  made  was  urged  at  the  time  the  service  was 
altered,  and  the  phrase,  the  only  ruler  of  rulers,  proposed  instead  of  the 
words  as  they  now  stand ;  but  this  phrase  was  rejected,  as  it  was  con- 
ceived not  to  be  so  beautiful  as  the  language  of  Scripture. 

A  new  catechism  is  substituted  in  place  of  that  contained  in  the  old 
liturgy,  because  it  is  conceived  by  our  society  that  the  latter  contains 
some  things  which  are  doubtful  and  others  which  are  exceptionable.  I 
do  not  conceive  that  a  catechism  can  be  too  plain  and  familiar,  as  it  is 
designed  for  the  instruction  of  very  young  children. 

I  readily  acknowledge  the  force  of  the  other  objections  which  you 
make  in  your  postscript.  Should  they  strike  the  society  of  the  (Chapel 
in  the  same  light  they  strike  me,  the  defects  which  you  have  pointed  out 
may  easily  be  removed. 

Having  been  so  full  in  answering  your  letter,  I  ought  to  beg  pardon  for 
trespassing  so  long  upon  your  patience,  as  well  as  for  presuming  to  differ 
from  you  in  opinion.  I  return  you  my  grateful  acknowledgements  for 
the  sheets  of  the  new  liturgy  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  send  me. 
I  think  the  alterations  judicious  ;  and  need  not  add,  that  with  a  few 
omissions  I  could  freely  adopt  the  whole  of  what  you  have  afforded  me. 

I  am,  with  due  respect,  reverend  sir, 

Your  obliged  and  humble  servant, 

Boston,  January  8,  1786.  CHARLES  MILLER. 

March,  1786. 
Sir: 

I  take  the  opportunity  of  sending  you  the  continuation  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  polite  letter  of  the  8th  of  Ja- 
nuary, the  following  hasty  remarks  on  which  are  merely  intended  to 
point  out  to  you  in  what  respects  your  answers  to  my  observations  do 
not  appear  to  me  to  carry  the  force  intended  by  you. 

Your  first  five  pages  contain  general  observations,  and  the  substance 
of  them  I  think  to  be  as  follows  :  That  however  desirable  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  greater  regard  is  to  be  had  to  truth.  That  any  single  con- 
gregation has  a  right,  and  this,  you  say,  is  a  point  which  I  have  conceded, 
to  depart  from  a  Church  they  have  heretofore  belonged  to,  on  finding  it 
to  be  erroneous.  That,  accordingly,  your  congregation  have  taken  this 
liberty,  from  a  conviction  of  the  Church  of  England's  being  essentially 
erroneous  with  respect  to  the  object  of  prayer;  after  waiting,  however, 
the  event  of  the  convention  of  1784:  and  that,  although  they  have  since 
set  up  a  form  of  their  own,  it  was  with  the  hope  that  they  might  still 
continue  a  part  of  the  same  Church,  with  their  fellow  members  generally 
throughout  the  continent,  because  their  sense  is  general  and  indefinite, 
and  may  be  used  by  persons  of  different  sentiments. 

However  indubitable  the  first  of  the  above  propositions,  I  do  not  see 
that  it  establishes  the  second ;  if  by  a  congregation  you  mean  the  collect- 
ive body,  with  tlie  possessions  they  held  as  a  branch  of  the  same  Church: 


APPENDIX.  337 

and  although  you  say  that  I  have  conceded  this  point,  you  will,  perhaps, 
on  re-examination,  find  that  you  misunderstood  me.  All  men  have  a  right 
to  leave  a  church  they  think  essentially  erroneous,  but  this  does  not 
amount  to  the  purpose  for  w^hich  you  quoted  my  supposed  concession. 

Under  the  impression  that  the  Church  of  England  is  essentially  erro- 
neous  in  regard  to  the  object  of  prayer,  I  humbly  apprehend  that  you  have 
less  occasion  (still  meaning  as  individuals)  to  prove  that  you  were  not 
hasty  in  leaving  her  bosom  than  to  vindicate  your  continuing  in  it  so  long; 
and,  indeed,  it  is  almost  incredible,  that  an  intelligent  congregation,  such 
as  yours,  should  either  at  the  same  time  generally  change  their  minds  in 
regard  to  the  very  object  of  prayer,  or  that,  having  changed,  they  should 
wait  for  any  particular  period  for  the  leaving  of  their  past  (supposed) 
idolatrous  practice.  Could  I  think  it  possible  that  persons,  never  before 
professing  themselves  of  our  communion,  had  been  introduced  on  such 
an  occasion,  and  that  a  contrivance  was  thus  made  to  overturn  the  sys- 
tem, the  difficulty  would  be  solved.  But  as  candour  and  charity  forbid- 
my  supposing  this,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it  on  any  known  princi-' 
pies  of  human  conduct.* 

As  to  the  last  of  the  particulars  recited,  if  it  were,  as  you  say  in  your 
letter,  that  "  the  expediency  of  Episcopal  ordination  is  the  most  essen- 
tial article  of  an  Episcopal  Church,"  it  would  of  course  follow,  that  con- 
gregations harmonizing  in  this  one  point  might,  however  differing  in 
others,  be  parts  of  the  same  Church.  But  as,  on  the  one  hand,  it  would 
be  a  very  singular  Church,  indeed,  vi'hich  should  hold  up  a  certain  matter 
of  order  as  the  only  part  of  its  foundation  essential  to  be  retained,  so  1 
hope  you  will,  on  further  consideration,  think  it  quite  unnecessary  on  my 
part  to  prove,  that  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  Church  to  which  we 
have  belonged.  I  shall  lay  the  less  stress  on  this  subject,  as  it  is  a  singu- 
lar opinion,  and  what  I  do  not  think  you  will  long  maintain,  that  persons 
differing  in  regard  to  the  object  of  prayer,  may  be  of  the  same  Church  or 
communion. 

It  is  not  easy  for  me  to  answer  what  you  argue,  from  the  case  of  the 
congregational  societies  in  the  New  England  states,  because  I  am  not 
acquainted  with  their  circumstances.  This  much  is  certain,  that  they  are 
severally  entire  and  independent  bodies;  and,  therefore,  rules  very  cor- 
rect for  them  may  be  absolutely  inconsistent  with  the  peace  of  congrega- 
tions  which  are  to  submit  to  the  same  government,  and  to  have,  each  of 
them,  some  proportion  of  influence  on  its  decisions.  It  is  also  certain, 
that  your  congregationalists,  having  sprung  from  ancestors  much  assimi- 
lated in  manners  as  well  as  in  belief,  and  not  having  (until  late)  much 
communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  have  generally  adhered  to  their 
ancient  Calvinistical  systems.  If  there  be  exceptions,  they  are  few;  and 
should  it  happen,  that  societies  among  them  hereafler  avowedly  dissent 

*    What  is  mentioned  as  inconsistent  with  candour  and  charity  to  be  supposed,  had 
been  reported,  and  was  afterwards  found  to  be  the  fact. 

2d* 


338  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

from  one  another  on  the  present  subject  of  this  letter,  I  cannot  persuade 
myself  that  they  will  continue  to  consider  one  another  as  of  the  same 
communion. 

Whether  all  opinions  are  to  be  tolerated  in  the  same  Church,  and 
whether  erroneous  opinions  are  to  be  excluded  by  means  of  established 
creeds  and  articles,  are  two  different  questions  ;  and,  on  the  latter,  I  con- 
ceive it  to  be  an  insuperable  argument  against  the  confessional  and  other 
such  books,  that  on  their  principles  there  is  the  only  alternative  of  either 
admitting  every  error,  however  extravagant,  or  of  submitting  to  government 
of  will  instead  of  that  of  law.  Suppose,  for  instance,  a  minister  regularly 
inducted  and  settled  as  a  pastor  in  your  congregation,  should  entertain  you 
with  weekly  sermons  in  favour  of  transubstantiation  and  of  the  adoration 
of  saints  and  angels,  or  on  the  worship  due  to  the  blessed  Redeemer — 
doctrines  which,  before  his  admission,  he  either  did  not  believe,  or  had 
contrived  to  conceal.  This  you  would  doubtless  think  a  sufficient  ground 
for  a  discontinuance  of  his  ministerial  charge  of  you.  And  yet,  for  any 
thing  that  appears  in  your  system,  it  would  be  impossible  to  remove  him, 
without  adopting  a  mode  of  proceeding  in  ecclesiastical  causes  the  most 
capricious  that  can  be  imagined.  Let  me  beg  you  here  to  distinguish 
between  the  use  and  the  abuse  of  the  requisition  alluded  to.  In  pleading 
for  articles  of  faith,  I  shall  not  deny  that  all  the  Protestant  churches,  at 
the  reformation,  carried  them  too  far ;  and  I  am  humbly  of  opinion,  that 
they  have  required  uniformity  of  sentiment  in  matters  which  are  rather 
subjects  of  philosophical  determination  than  of  the  substance  of  Christian 
doctrine. 

The  next  three  pages  of  your  letter  were  prompted  by  your  inten- 
tion to  set  me  right  in  regard  to  some  texts  which  I  had  quoted,  as 
bemg  favourable  to  the  worship  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  will  find,  on  re- 
curring to  my  letters,  that  they  came  in  occasionally.  Had  I  brought 
them  expressly  in  the  way  of  proof,  I  should  have  thought  it  my  duty  to 
have  introduced  many  (very  many)  others,  which  I  rather  contented  my- 
self with  referring  to  in  Dr  Clarke.  Neither,  indeed,  should  I  have  been 
satisfied  with  merely  quoting  texts  directly  speaking  of  such  worship,  but 
should  have  enumerated,  as  applied  to  the  Son,  attributes  which  are  uni- 
versally agreed  to  be  a  ground  of  adoration  in  the  Father.  Therefore, 
what  I  shall  now  advance  in  regard  to  the  said  texts,  is  merely  intended 
to  offer  to  you  a  clue,  by  which  it  appears  to  me  you  may  discover  that 
your  friend,  whom  you  say  you  have  consulted,  has  (I  hope  not  inten-. 
tionally)  misled  you. 

You  say  that  St  Stephen  and  St  John  saw  our  Saviour  in  vision,  when 
they  addressed  him.  Acts  vii.  59,  and  Rev.  xvi.  29.  Now,  sir,  in  the 
first  instance,  the  seeing  of  Christ  was  before  the  council  at  the  trial,  and 
not  out  of  the  city,  at  the  execution  ;  and  St  John's  prayer  is  no  part  of 
his  narrative  of  what  passed  in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  but  is  introduced 
as  proceeding  from  his  devout  fervour,  at  the  time  of  his  recording  of  his 
vision,  and  is  a  very  natural  and  beautiful  close  of  them. 


APPENDIX.  339 

Your  friend  has  suggested  to  you  that  Acts  v.  9,  14,  might  more  pro- 
perly be  translated,  "  to  bind  all  which  are  called  by  thy  name."  Al- 
though, sir,  your  letter  seems  to  imply  that  your  line  of  reading  does  not 
qualify  you  to  judge  in  this  matter,  yet  I  presume  you  must  be  acquainted 
with  many  persons  who  have  so  much  knowledge  of  the  Greek  tongue  as 
to  understand  the  meaning  of  words,  and  are  at  the  same  time  acquainted 
with  the  general  principles  of  grammar.  To  such,  provided  they  have  no 
systems  to  maintain,  or  would  be  too  tenacious  of  their  literary  reputation 
to  risk  it  on  a  construction  wholly  ungrammatical,  I  must  beg  leave  to  refer 
you.  Any  such  person  will  tell  you,  that  the  substantive  "  name"  is  govern- 
ed by  the  verb  "  call  on,"  and  that  to  admit  the  English  phraseology  "  by 
thy  name,"  it  ought  not  to  be  so  governed.  Your  friend,  to  support  his 
construction,  has  suggested  to  you  several  texts  translated  "by  thy 
name  :"  Matt.  x.  3;  Luke  xxii.  3  ;  Acts  i,  23,  and  x.  18  and  12,  and  xv. 
17,  and  James  xi.  7.  Now,  sir,  any  such  grammarian  as  I  have  mention- 
ed, will  tell  you,  that  in  the  said  texts,  except  the  two  last,  the  Greek 
participle,  translated  "called,"  agrees  in  gender,  number  and  person, 
with  its  following  substantive,  which  also  agrees  with  a  substantive  pre- 
ceding the  participle.  This  is  no  grammatical  nicety.  The  texts  would 
be  nonsense  if  translated  otherwise  than  as  they  are;  and  therefore 
can  be  no  rule  for  the  translation  of  other  texts,  in  which  the  substan- 
tive, being  governed  by  the  verb,  and  receiving  the  force  of  its  preposi- 
tion, must  be  as  our  version  has  them — which  are  not  only  no  precedents 
for  another  translation  of  those  that  make  against  you,  but  strongly  show 
in  what  way  the  sentence  ought  to  be  constructed,  where  the  sense  is 
synonymous  with  the  being  called  Christians.  For  then,  as  in  the  two 
texts  alluded  to,  the  word  "name"  is  either  the  nominative  of  the  verb 
"  called,"  or  else  agrees  with  that  word  as  its  participle  ;  and  a  pronoun 
follows,  to  denote  the  persons  on  whom  the  name  is  called. 

I  shall  be  more  brief  on  the  remainder  of  your  letter. 

You  say  that  the  opinions  of  the  fathers,  after  or  before  the  Council  of 
Nice,  are  of  no  consequence,  unless  authorized  by  the  Scriptures.  It  is 
true ;  and  yet,  in  determining  on  the  sense  of  Scripture,  they  are  of  con- 
sequence. For  that  the  professors  of  a  religion,  of  which  the  great  glory 
is  the  battering  down  of  the  stupendous  structure  of  idolatry,  should, 
from  the  first  age  downwards,  be  themselves  idolaters,  is  incredible.  We 
make  use  of  early  historical  evidence  to  prove  the  truth  of  Christianity; 
and  surely  the  same  evidence  may  be  one  criterion  by  which  to  try  the 
asserted  fact,  that  the  divinity  of  Christ  was  acknowledged  by  the  Church 
from  the  beginning. 

You  say  that  your  society  do  not  conceive  themselves  under  any  obliga- 
tion to  accommodate  their  service  to  the  peculiar  speculative  opinions  of 
Dr  Priestley  or  the  Socinians;  and  this  is  said  in  answer  to  my  observa- 
tion, that  notwithstanding  your  declared  intentions  to  accommodate  your 
service  to  men  of  different  speculative  opinions,  you  had  not  gone  far 
enough  to  accomplish  the  object.     I  still  think,  that  should  any  persons 


340  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

request  to  be  relieved  from  the  burthen  of  prayers  which,  contrary  to  their 
judgments,  recognize  the  existence  of  a  human  soul,  and  a  state  of  con- 
sciousness between  death  and  resurrection,  they  ought,  on  the  principle 
of  your  letter,  to  be  indulged.  Or,  should  others  request  to  have  the 
rite  of  baptism  dispensed  with,  the  same  plea  miglit  be  urged  on  their 
behalf.  These  I  take  to  be  clear  inferences  from  your  principles,  but 
they  are  not  involved  in  mine  :  for  I  think  a  Church  may  adhere  to  what 
she  conceives  to  be  of  substance  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  require  it  in 
all  her  members,  without  the  least  uncharitableness  towards  those  who 
are  not  willing,  on  her  conditions,  to  be  of  the  number. 

As  to  what  was  said  in  regard  to  moral  obligation,  I  consider  my  free- 
dom as  barely  warranted  by  your  invitation.  I  am  not  fond  of  adding  to 
what  I  offered  in  that  respect,  only  as  you  say  that  if  it  proves  any  thing 
it  proves  too  much,  and  instance  the  reformation.  I  must  observe,  that 
the  two  cases  differ  in  the  following  respects :  1.  The  main  point  on 
which  exceptionable  doctrines  of  the  Romish  church  rested,  was  obe- 
dience to  the  papal  see,  which  the  government  of  the  country  had  a  right 
to  consider  as  inconsistent  with  the  moral  duty  of  obedience  to  civil 
rulers.  2.  The  Church  of  England  was  nationally  endowed ;  and,  of 
course,  subject  to  national  regulation.  3.  It  is  agreed,  that  where  pub- 
lic prosperity  is  immediately  at  stake,  personal  rights  may  yield  to  so 
great  an  object.  You  say  that  some  persons  are  against  making  any 
alterations  at  present  in  our  Church  service.  I  answer,  that  if  the  altera- 
tions we  are  making  are  contrary  to  what  appears,  from  the  institutions 
and  the  conduct  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  be  her  sense  of  the  essen- 
tial doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  such  persons  have  cause  to  complain.  But, 
if  they  are  in  what  the  same  Church  has  declared  to  be  matters  subject 
to  change,  the  case  is  foreign  to  our  argument.  Let  me  add,  that  what  I 
advanced  on  this  head  was  on  the  presumption  that  your  church  was 
built,  as  all  churches  with  us  were,  by  subscription ;  and  that  considera- 
ble sums  of  money  were  received,  beyond  the  value  of  any  interest  the 
givers  could  expect  to  hold  in  it,  and  even  from  persons  who  could  hold 
no  interest  in  it  all.  If  I  am  wrong  in  the  facts,  my  observations  were  ill 
founded. 

In  regard  to  what  I  took  the  liberty  to  mention,  in  the  postscript  to  my 
letter,  I  shall  be  as  little  tenacious  of  it  as  you  are  of  your  obligations  on 
the  same  subject.  Therefore,  the  only  particular  I  shall  reply  to,  is 
where  you  say,  that  if  in  your  doxology  the  attributes  of  the  Almighty 
are  imperfectly  enumerated  for  so  solemn  an  act  of  worship,  it  is  the  fault 
of  the  apostle.  By  no  means — the  enumeration  may  be  sufficient  for  the 
purpose  of  the  apostle  in  the  place  where  it  is  used,  and  yet  not  the  most 
suitable  to  the  idea  of  a  stated  doxology. 

The  few  remaining  sheets  of  the  Prayer  Book  consist  of  some  hymns, 
the  tables,  and  the  preface,  which  I  shall  send  you  as  soon  as  printed. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

Wm  white. 


APPENDIX.  341 

P.S.  The  part  of  your  letter  which  related  to  Dr  Clarke,  I  have  pur- 
posely postponed  to  the  postscript ;  because,  although  what  you  have  said 
did  not  agree  with  my  recollection  of  his  writings,  I  had  not  his  books  by 
me  while  I  was  writing  my  letter. 

You  say  that  you  see  nothing  in  his  doctrine  of  the  trinity,  nor  in  his 
sermon,  quoted  by  me,  nor  in  his  paraphrase,  that  justifies  praying  to  the 
Son  after  his  resurrection.  And  in  another  place  you  say,  that  in  one 
instance  only,  that  of  St  Stephen,  he  construes  "  calling  on  the  name  of 
Christ,"  as  the  same  with  directly  calling  upon  or  invoking  him.  Now, 
in  his  "  Scripture  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,"  (page  139)  I  find  under  this 
head — "directly  calling  on  or  invoking  him,"  about  sixty  texts  :  to  about 
eleven  of  which,  however,  Dr  Clarke,  in  his  cautious  and  modest  way, 
annexes  notes,  expressing  ambiguity,  not  as  to  the  meaning  of  "  call 
upon,"  but  whether  the  passages  referred  to  Christ  or  to  the  Father. 

You  say,  that  although  Dr  Clarke  condemns  the  opinion  of  Arius,  who 
affirms  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  of  God  had  no  being,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  show  how,  in  other  respects,  he  differs  from  the  Arians. 
The  observation  surprises  me  ;  because  I  always  took  this  to  have  been 
the  point  on  which  Arius  first  gave  offence,  and  the  only  or  the  chief  on 
which  the  Arians  have  differed  from  the  Catholics  or  the  orthodox. 

You  say  Dr  Clarke  took  great  pains  to  avoid  theodious  name  of  here- 
tic. What  pains  these  were  I  never  heard;  unless  it  were  the  clearing 
of  himself  of  holding  principles  ascribed  to  him,  but  which  he  could  not 
own.  The  freedom  of  his  speculations  was  one  of  the  most  striking  frail- 
ties in  his  character.  I  take  his  sentiments  as  they  appear  in  his  works. 
If  you  have  in  view  such  as  he  may  have  otherwise  expressed,  I  wonder 
you  should  have  thought  him  or  his  sentiments  worthy  of  being  placed  in 
so  distinguished  a  point  of  view  in  your  work.  The  book  of  his  from 
which  I  chiefly  take  my  ideas  of  his  system,  is  his  "  Scripture  Doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  ;"  and  this,  I  must  still  say,  does  not  require  such  a  depar- 
ture from  our  system  as  you  have  made,  and  will  for  ever  convey  a  dif- 
ferent representation  of  him,  than  the  profession  you  have  made  of  re- 
forming the  liturgy  on  his  plan.  In  proof  of  this,  I  might  produce  whole 
chapters  of  his  book :  but  in  addition  to  what  has  been  said,  I  will  only 
refer  you  to  the  second  chapter  of  his  third  book,  in  which  he  professes 
to  point  out  all  the  passages  of  the  Prayer  Book  thought  by  him  incon- 
sistent with  his  plan,  but  in  which  he  has  left  untouched  many  parts 
essentially  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  your  reform — for  instance, 
the  Te  Deum  and  the  Litany,  except  the  first  four  petitions  of  it,  which  he 
omits.  Now,  I  need  not  inform  you,  that  many  of  the  petitions  of  the 
former,  and  all  those  of  the  latter,  are  addressed  to  the  Son.  I  do  not 
know  the  publication  of  Mr  Lindsey  to  which  you  refer;  but  I  shall  be  very 
much  surprised  to  find  a  man  of  Dr  Clarke's  talents  inconsistent  with 
himself. 


Since  writing  the  above  I  have  seen  the  publication  of  Mr  Lindsey,  to 


342  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

which,  as  I  suppose,  you  refer — his  Farewell  Address  to  the  Parishioners 
of  Catterick.  In  this  he  gives  us,  not  Dr  Clarke's  liturgy  complete,  but 
information  of  the  alterations  made ;  and  these  taken  from  a  copy  in  the 
British  Museum.  Agreeably  to  Mr  Lindsey's  representation,  it  does  in- 
deed appear  that  Dr  Clarke  intended  to  leave  out  every  invocation  of  our 
Saviour:  on  what  principle  I  do  not  know — not  surely  as  being  unscrip- 
tural,  when  he  has  elsewhere  produced  so  many  instances  of  it  from  the 
Scriptures.  I  do  not  know  what  to  say  of  this  matter.  On  the  one  hand 
it  seems  doubtful  how  far  to  form  a  judgment  from  so  short  an  account  of 
the  contents  of  the  manuscript  said  to  be  in  the  Museum  :  and,  on  the 
other,  1  have  no  reason  to  question  either  there  being  such  a  manuscript, 
or  Mr  Lindsey's  fairness  in  his  narrative — for  as  to  quotations,  he  has 
given  none.  In  the  mean  time  I  submit  to  you  the  propriety  of  my  ob- 
servations, so  far  as  they  concern  his  "Scripture  Doctrine  of  the  Tri- 
nity."* 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  Dr  Parker  to  Dr  White,  dated  January 
31,1786. 

"  You  will  also  be  kind  enough  to  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  your 
most  excellent  letter  to  Mr  Miller,  and  for  your  politeness  in  giving  me  a 
perusal  of  it  before  the  delivery.  It  was  no  small  addition  to  their  mor- 
tification that  such  a  letter  should  come  to  them  through  me,  and  that  T 
should  be  acquainted  with  its  contents  ;  which  would  never  have  been 
the  case  had  it  been  received  by  Mr  Miller  before  I  had  perused  it.  The 
committee  of  that  society  who  revised  their  liturgy  had  given  out  that  all 
the  churches  on  the  continent  to  the  southward  of  Connecticut  wdre  in 
the  same  sentiments,  and  the  liturgy,  when  revised  by  the  convention 
then  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia,  would  be  exactly  similar  to  theirs,  and 
they  are  not  a  little  chagrined  to  find  themselves  so  much  mistaken.  I 
feel  myself  much  indebted  to  you,  not  only  for  the  letter  itself,  but  for 
the  caution  you  use  in  precluding  the  suspicion  of  my  having  communi- 
cated any  account  of  their  proceedings  ;  by  which  means  your  arguments 
will  probably  be  more  attended  to,  as  you  could  not  possibly  be  influenced 
by  prejudices,  as  they  very  rightly  suppose  me  to  be.  I  have,  however, 
no  hopes  that  even  your  arguments  will  convince  them  of  their  errors,  or 

that  they  will  retract  as  long  as  Mr  continues  their   reader. 

There  is  but  one  reason  to  suspect  they  ever  will,  and  that  is,  the  diffi- 
culty they  will  find  in  their  present  plan  of  his  obtaining  ordination.  I 
have  heard  that  thev  applied  to  Dr  Seabury  to  give  him  episcopal  ordi- 
nation, but  that  he  refused;  and  I  think,  by  your  ecclesiastical  consti- 
tution, he  must  be  precluded  from  obtaining  it  from  any  bishop  at  the 
southward  that  shall  accede  to  those  articles.  Should  he  have  recourse 
to  the  congregational  clergy,  and  be  ordained  by  them,  all  pretence  of 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  mention  here,  as  in  a  note  to  my  former  letter,  that  I  afterwards 
saw,  in  the  British  Museum,  a  quarto  Prayer  Book,  altered,  as  Mr  Lindsay  represents,  and 
said  to  he  by  Dr  Claike's  hand. 


APPENDIX.  343 

their  being  an  Episcopal  church  must  be  at  end,  and  a  way  will  be 
opened  to  the  minority  to  recover  the  house.  Indeed  the  minority  is 
more  properly  the  majority  :  for,  in  order  to  carry  their  point,  the  first 
step  was  to  declare  the  pews  of  all  absentees,  of  which  description  of 
persons  were  a  great  number  of  the  proprietors  of  that  most  elegant 
church,  to  be  confiscated  or  forfeited.  They  then  passed  a  vote  that  no 
person  should  have  liberty  to  purchase  a  vault  under  the  church  (of 
which  there  were  a  number  unappropriated)  who  was  not  a  proprietor  of 
the  church.  These  vaults  being  in  great  demand  induced  many  dissen- 
ters to  become  proprietors,  for  the  sake  of  being  entitled  to  a  vault ;  and, 
though  they  do  not  attend  the  worship  of  the  church,  were  called  in  to 
vote  for  this  new  liturgy.  But  a  very  few  of  the  old  proprietors  are  now 
attendants  there ;  but  the  greater  number  are  dissenters,  and  the  most 
thorough-paced  one  of  all  is  their  reader.  I  am  told  that  an  answer  to 
your  letter  is  gone  forward,  in  the  name  I  suppose  of  Mr  Miller,  but  the 
joint  production  of  the  whole  committee,  consisting  of  lawyers,  doctors, 

merchants  and  mechanics,  with  Mr at  their  head.     But  '  magna 

est  Veritas  et  prsevalebit.'  " 


III. 

(Page  141  ante,  in  note.) 


A  PROJECTED  REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  HOUSE 
OF  BISHOPS  CONCERNING  THE  TABLE  OF  KINDRED  AND 
AFFINITY. 

The  committee  feel  the  weight  of  the  subject;  and  in  proportion  to 
the  embarrassments  which  they  perceive  to  attend  it,  is  the  submission 
with  which  they  make  their  report. 

It  hangs  as  a  difficulty  on  the  whole  subject,  that  although  there  are 
important  reasons,  moral,  natural  and  political,  and,  in  addition,  precepts 
of  the  word  of  God,  against  sexual  intercourse  of  very  near  relations, 
yet  the  condition  of  humanity  is  such  that  dispensing  circumstances  may 
occur.  Besides  the  instance  of  the  family  of  the  first  man,  the  history 
of  the  patriarchal  families  furnishes  us  with  deviations  from  what  we 
now  contend  for  as  required  by  divine  and  by  human  laws. 

The  committee  believe  that  the  only  instances  in  which  the  correctness 


344  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

of  the  table  has  been  called  in  question  are  those  of  the  marriage  of  a 
man  with  his  brother's  wife  or  with  his  wife's  sister ;  and  those  of  the 
marriage  of  a  woman  with  her  husband's  brother  or  with  her  sister's 
husband.  Accordingly  the  report  of  the  committee,  so  far  as  it  involves 
the  question  of  the  alteration  of  the  present  table,  will  relate  to  these 
cases  only. 

It  was  remarked  above  that  there  are  moral,  natural  and  political  rea- 
sons against  the  sexual  intercourse  of  persons  in  near  relation.  In 
respect  to  morals,  temptations  arise  from  the  familiarities  which  are  the 
natural  consequence,  and  which  administer  to  the  satisfactions  of  life. 
In  nature  also  the  displeasure  of  her  divine  author  is  stamped  on  matri- 
monial alliances  within  nearness  of  blood,  by  making  them  a  means  of 
the  deterioration  of  the  species.  The  good  of  the  state  also  is  promoted 
by  the  diluting  of  a  source  of  domestic  partialities,  and  of  the  perpetua- 
ting of  hostilities.  The  second  of  these  considerations  has  no  place  in 
the  present  discussion.  The  first  and  the  third  apply  ;  but  not  in  such  a 
degree  as  to  constitute  the  act  in  question,  a  "  malum  in  se,"  that  is,  "  an 
evil  in  itself;"  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  "  malum  prohibitum,"  that 
is,  "  an  evil  made  so  by  existing  Jaw."  The  former  character  is  not 
conveyed  to  the  marriages  in  question  by  their  producing  of  temptations 
to  licentiousness  ;  whatever  reason  there  may  be  in  this  for  providing 
against  them  by  public  law. 

In  consequence  of  the  matrimonial  relation  there  take  place  frequent 
and  familiar  intercourses  between  each  of  the  parties,  and  the  brothers 
and  the  sisters  of  the  other.  It  must  be  a  great  hindrance  of  domestic 
friendships  if  there  were  understood  to  be  no  bars  to  sexual  union,  under 
any  circumstances  which  can  ordinarily  occur.  Still,  there  is  a  distinc- 
tion between  what  is  essentially  sin,  and  what  public  wisdom  may  rea- 
sonably forbid  because  sin  will  be  a  frequent  consequence. 

On  tliis  ground  it  must  be  held  desirable  that  the  laws  of  the  land 
should  prohibit  the  marriages  now  treated  of.  But  if  this  has  not  been 
done,  it  would  seem  that  a  church  in  such  a  land,  however  it  may  see 
cause  to  entertain  and  to  express  disapprobation  of  them,  should  hesi- 
tate to  reject  from  the  communion  on  their  account ;  unless  there  can 
be  alleged  some  divine  law  requiring  such  an  act :  for  then  the  sanction 
of  the  state  ought  not  to  extort  the  sanction  of  the  church. 

The  scriptural  ground  taken  in  proof  of  unlawfulness  is  the  tenth 
chapter  of  Leviticus.  In  the  sixteenth  verse  there  is  an  express  prohi- 
bition of  the  marriage  of  a  man  with  his  brother's  wife  ;  but  there  was 
afterwards  permitted,  and  even  enjoined,  a  large  class  of  exceptions,  to 
favour  the  feature  in  the  Jewish  policy,  which  limited  the  succession  of 
an  inheritance  to  a  person  of  the  tribe  in  which  it  lay :  a  wise  provision 
in  itself;  but  which,  it  may  be  thought,  would  not  have  been  made  at 
the  expense  of  the  violation  of  the  essential  laws  of  purity.  The 
eighteenth  verse  is  a  prohibition  of  a  man's  marrying  of  his  wife's  sister ; 
and  is  expressed  in  such  terms  as  are  thought  to  favour  the  construction 


APPENDIX.  345 

of  its  being  intended  of  two  living  sisters.  The  construction  is  con- 
tended to  be  barred  by  the  principle  of  the  prohibition  of  the  16th 
verse.  If  this  should  be  granted,  the  consequence  will  seem  to  be,  that 
although  there  are  no  such  exceptions  as  those  induced  with  a  view 
to  inheritance,  exceptions  are  not  precluded  by  the  essential  impurity 
of  the  act.  Here  comes  in  the  question  how  far  the  Levitical  law 
is  binding  on  Christian  people.  On  this  point  our  Church  says — 
"  Although  the  law  given  from  God  by  Moses,  as  touching  ceremonies 
and  rites,  do  not  bind  Christian  men,  nor  the  civil  precepts  thereof  ought 
of  necessity  to  be  received  in  any  commonwealth;  yet,  notwithstandino-, 
no  Christian  man  whatsoever  is  free  from  the  obedience  of  the  com- 
mands which  are  called  moral." 

Does  then  the  Levitical  law  contemplate  such  marriages  as  immo- 
ral, independently  on  its  own  positive  prohibitions  1  To  prove  the 
affirmative  of  this,  there  are  urged  verses  26,  27  and  28,  which  say, 
that  for  the  practices  censured,  emphatically  called  "abominations," 
the  land  was  "  spuing  out  her  inhabitants."  Stress  is  laid  on  the  pronoun 
"  these,"  applying  to  the  practices.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  urged  that  the 
judgment  should  be  limited  to  the  unnatural  vices,  condemned  in  the 
verses  immediately  before  ;  since  what  is  forbidden  in  the  former  verses 
could  not  have  been  so  strongly  marked,  without  infamy  attributed  to 
what  was  common  among  the  immediate  progenitors  of  the  Israelites  : 
and  here,  the  case  of  Jacob  and  his  two  sister  wives  is  thought  pertinent 
to  the  purpose.  In  addition,  it  is  remarked,  that  the  words  "  abomina- 
tion" and  "  abominable"  are  not  always  used  in  Scripture  in  the  very 
strong  senses  current  amongst  us ;  for  which  the  appeal  is  made  to  Lev. 
xi.  10,  20,  41,  42,  and  to  Deut.  xvii.  1.  One  of  the  abominations  is  the 
eating  of  a  fish  that  has  neither  fins  nor  scales. 

We  have  no  guidance  on  the  subject  of  the  marriages  in  question,  either 
in  the  New  Testament  or  m  the  very  early  ages  of  the  Church,  except 
that  in  the  canons  called  "apostolic"  (the  19th)  it  is  provided,  in  the 
case  of  a  man  who  has  married  two  sisters,  that  he  shall  not  be  ordained 
to  the  ministry.  This  bears  the  appearance  of  prohibition  on  the  ground 
of  Christian  prudence,  and  not  as  laying  the  charge  of  impurity.  These 
canons  are  supposed  to  be  of  the  second  and  third  centuries.  In  the 
fourth  century  there  are  decrees  against  these  marriages  :  and  so  there 
are  against  those  of  cousins  of  the  first  degree.  In  the  cases  in  ques- 
tion,  they  require  the  parties  to  separate,  as  a  condition  of  the  commu- 
nion. It  is  remarkable,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  interdicts  such 
alliances,  with  the  exception,  that  the  pope  may  grant  a  dispensation- 
it  being  supposed  that  the  opposing  law  is  not  divine,  but  ecclesiastical. 
This  is  inconsistent  with  the  claim  of  that  Church,  in  reference  to  tra- 
dition. 

At  the  time  of  the  reformation  the  Protestant  Churches  generally  con- 
sidered the  said  law  as  divine.     The  importance  attached  to  the  ques- 
2e 


346  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

tion,  as  connected  with  the  marriage  of  Henry  VIII. ,  is  well  known.  All 
our  reformers  considered  it  as  null,  by  the  divine  law,  which  renders  the 
question  of  peculiar  delicacy  in  this  Church. 

Notwithstanding  the  weight  which  the  opinion  derives  from  the  cir- 
cumstance stated,  it  has  been  questioned  by  many  later  divines  of  the 
Church  of  England.  One  only  shall  be  named.  Bishop  Taylor,  in  his 
learned  work,  under  the  name  of  "  Ductor  Dubitantium"  (page  217),  con- 
tends that  there  is  no  obligation  on  Christians  of  those  laws  of  Moses 
which  have  a  bearing  on  the  present  subject:  and  (page  222)  he  considers 
the  case  of  Henry  VIII.  as  very  much  acted  on  by  worldly  policy,  and  by 
opinions  from  abroad  purchased  with  money.  It  is  worthy  of  mention, 
that  although  in  England  the  law  continues  as  settled  at  the  reforma- 
tion, there  are  well  attested  instances  of  such  marriages  as  are  here  dis- 
coursed of  unnoticed  by  authority. 

Still,  there  is  held  to  be  a  ligature  of  the  law  of  Leviticus  in  the  cir- 
cumstance, that  if  this  is  removed,  there  is  none  other  in  Scripture  to  be 
a  restraint  from  incest  of  any  sort.  But  this  does  not  follow.  There 
will  still  be  hindrances  in  morals,  in  nature  and  in  policy;  and  further,  in 
parity  of  reasoning  from  the  divine  Word,  so  far  as  those  points  can  be 
proved  to  be  concerned.  Therefore,  the  correct  consequence  is,  that  the 
running  of  the  line  between  the  safe  and  hurtful,  is  left  to  the  determi- 
nations of  the  State  and  of  the  Church,  in  their  respective  spheres.  The 
Church  ought  to  accommodate  her  provisions  to  those  of  the  State,  so  far 
as  can  be  done  without  mjury  or  danger  to  the  morals  of  her  members. 
If  the  State  should  sanction  what  the  Church  considers  as  not  essentially 
sinful,  but  as  furnishing  temptation  to  sin,  she  ought  to  discountenance 
it  in  such  a  degree  as  Christian  prudence  may  direct.  Under  this  view 
of  the  subject,  it  would  be  too  arbitrary  an  exercise  of  authority  to  expel 
from  the  communion,  much  more  to  consider  the  parties  as  passing  their 
succeeding  lives  in  adultery,  as  they  are  contemplated  by  the  law  of 
England. 

The  result  is  the  committee's  proposing  of  the  following  instrument : — 

By  the  bishops,  the  clergy  and  the  laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  convention,  this  day 

of  ,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 

The  table  of  kindred  and  affinity,  wherein  whosoever  are  related  are 
forbidden  to  marry,  as  established  in  the  Church  of  England,  is  received 
and  established  in  this  Church,  with  the  proviso,  in  reference  to  the  pro- 
hibitions of  a  man's  marrying  of  his  brother's  wife,  or  his  wife's  sister, 
and  of  a  woman's  marrying  of  her  husband's  brother,  or  her  sister's  hus- 
band, that  although  the  Church  disapproves  of  such  marriages,  because 
of  temptations  to  sin  in  the  allowance  of  them,  yet,  in  the  event  of  any 
such  marriage,  it  shall  not  be  a  cause  of  repelling  from  the  holy  commu- 
nion. But  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  clergyman  of  this  Church  to 
celebrate  such  a  marriage. 


APPENDIX.  347 

Extract  from  a  Letter  of  Bishop  White  to  Bishop  Hobart,  dated 
I9th  February  1816. 

"  Of  the  matrimonial  subject  mentioned  by  you,  the  merits  of  the  ques- 
tion seem  to  me  sufficiently  opened  in  the  account  given  by  Collier  in  his 
narrative  of  the  proceedings  in  Henry  VIII. 's  divorce.  Concerning  the 
grounds  of  divorce  generally,  I  do  not  know  where  so  much  learning  is 
concentrated  as  in  the  celebrated  treatise  of  Milton,  found  in  the  two 
quarto  volumes  of  his  prosaic  works.  This  is  said  without  approbation 
of  his  principles  ;  which,  being  promulged  by  him  about  the  time  of  the 
settlement  of  Connecticut,  are  said  to  have  produced  the  loose  maxims 
prevalent  on  the  subject  in  that  state.  You  certainly  know  the  circum- 
stance in  the  domestic  history  of  the  poet  which  led  to  so  dangerous  a 
publication. 

"  On  such  applications  as  that  lately  made  to  you,  it  has  been  my  in- 
variable  practice  to  refuse.  On  that,  as  on  other  points,  I  have  consi- 
dered the  institutions  of  the  Church  of  England,  however  alterable  in 
their  nature,  as  binding  on  our  Church,  until  altered  by  competent  au- 
thority.  The  former  prayers  for  civil  rulers  were  repealed  by  the  provi- 
dence of  God  in  the  revolution.  The  other  parts  of  the  system  have  gone 
finder  review  at  different  times,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  table  of 
degrees  of  marriage  :  and  I  do  not  see  how  any  clergyman  can  undertake 
to  alter  it,  according  to  his  private  judgment,  without  giving  a  precedent 
for  great  disorder.  What  should  induce  the  greater  caution,  is  the  de~ 
cided  sense  of  the  English  reformers  on  the  question  proposed  by  you, 
and  the  effect  of  it  in  the  work  of  the  reformation. 

"  It  is  proper,  however,  I  should  confess  to  you,  that  I  perceive  much 
to  be  said  on  the  other  side,  and  am  far  from  being  convinced  that  the 
18th  chapter  of  Leviticus  is  binding  on  Christian  states  and  churches. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  line  is  to  be  drawn  by  human  discretion,  there 
seems  to  me  much  of  moral  consideration  against  the  marriages  in  ques- 
tion. There  are  so  apt  to  ensue  such  intimacies  between  a  mar.  and  his 
wife's  sisters,  and  between  a  woman  and  her  husband's  brothers,  as  en- 
danger those  connexions  to  be  snares,  unless  there  prevail  in  them  the 
same  maxims  as  among  relations  by  blood." 

Extract  from  another  Letter,  dated  18th  March  1817. 

"  During  the  revolutionary  war  I  was  for  a  time  left  alone  in  the  min- 
istry. I  can  truly  say,  that  I  took  up  the  question  very  seriously,  and 
decided  it  with  myself  conscientiously,  as  to  what  was  rendered  obliga- 
tory on  me  in  relation  to  my  engagements  to  the  Church.  The  political 
prayers  were  superseded,  and  the  using  of  them  was  punishable,  by  events 
brought  about  in  the  course  of  divine  Providence.  To  pray  for  our  civil 
rulers  was  a  duty  bound  on  us  by  a  higher  authority  than  that  of  the  Church : 
and  if,  in  this  particular,  any  clergyman  should  act  according  to  his  best 
discretion,  it  was  no  more  than  would  be  justified  by  the  exigency  of  the 
case.    In  all  other  respects,  I  held  the  former  ecclesiastical  system  to  be 


348  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

binding.  The  conventions  of  our  Chureh  have  always  acted  on  the  same 
principle,  except  that  of  October  1789 :  whose  adopting  of  a  different 
principle  has  rendered  our  liturgy  much  more  imperfect  (according  to  my 
opinion)  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  On  this  point  I  could  give 
you  some  interesting  information. 

"  To  proceed  to  your  questions.  Under  the  first,  I  am  free  to  confess 
myself  not  convinced,  that  the  18th  chapter  of  Leviticus  (the  only 
place,  I  believe,  in  question)  is  binding  on  Christian  states  or  churches. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  seem  these  considerations  worthy  of  regard. 
].  The  prominence  of  the  point  at  the  crisis  of  the  reformation,  and  the 
undoubted  sense  of  the  reformers.  2.  If  what  is  above  stated  be  correct, 
its  being  still  a  law  of  our  Church.  And  3.  That  since,  if  you  set  aside 
the  18th  chapter  of  Leviticus,  there  is  an  absolute  necessity  of  some 
positive  law  for  the  drawing  of  the  line  of  interdicted  consanguinity  and 
affinity,  whether  in  the  doing  of  this  the  moral  ground  of  prohibition  do 
not  apply  to  this  part  of  the  subject,  in  consequence  of  the  domestic  inter- 
courses which  take  place  within  the  bounds  of  the  contemplated  relation. 

"  On  the  subject  of  your  second  question,  you  may  infer  my  opinion 
from  what  has  been  said;  to  which  I  will  add,  that  I  have  uniformly  re- 
fused to  officiate  in  such  marriages.  The  last  application  was  from  a 
family  of  the  same  grade  of  respectability  with  that  mentioned  by  you. 
Dr  Blackwell  joined  the  parties,  as  he  has  others  of  the  same  description. 
He  is  of  opinion,  with  the  house  of  clerical  and  lay  deputies  in  1789,  that 
our  Church  possesses  no  institutions  until  made  for  her  specially.  If  the 
matter  had  been  so  understood  at  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and 
there  had  been  among  us  some  such  spirits  as  I  can  now  designate,  it 
would  have  torn  us  to  pieces." 


IV. 

(Page  143  ante,  in  note.) 

TWO  LETTERS  TO  DR  ABERCROMBIE,  CONCERNING 
DR  SMITH'S  CHANTS 

June  20, 1809. 
Dear  Sir  : 

You  have  desired  me  to  give  you  my  opinion  on  what  Dr  Smith,  of 
New  York,  has  written  to  you  concerning  his  comparison  between  the 
chanting  of  the  psalms  in  prose,  and  the  singing  of  them  in  metre. 


APPENDIX.  349 

Having  been,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  first  clergyman  in  the  United 
►States  who  introduced  chanting  into  any  of  our  churches,  I  ought  to  be 
judged  the  more  impartial  in  the  opinion,  that  Dr  Smith  endangers  his 
own  object,  by  insisting  on  that  species  of  psalmody  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  other.  He  seems  even  to  think  true  Christian  devotion  much  in- 
volved in  the  question.  But  it  is  evident  that  we  do  not,  in  either  case. 
.=ing  the  words  in  which  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  originally  dis- 
closed. We  sing  in  a  translation.  Now  if  it  be  found,  on  experience, 
as  is  the  fact,  that  rhyme,  especially  in  the  English  language,  makes  the 
composition  agreeable  to  the  ear,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  principle  is 
endangered  by  condescending  to  the  well  known  taste  of  Christians  ge- 
nerally, in  this  respect. 

It  will  commonly,  at  least,  be  found,  that  when  the  Bible  translation  of 
the  Psalms  differs  from  that  of  the  Prayer  Book,  the  former  is  the  more 
correct.  And  hence,  the  usual  plea  for  retaining  the  latter  is  its  beinw 
in  a  flowing  style,  and  more  familiar  to  the  people.  Its  comparative  in- 
correctness is,  I  believe,  conceded. 

I  have  always  considered  it  a  commendation  of  Tate  and  Brady's  metre, 
that,  wherever  the  translations  differ,  they  follow  that  of  the  Bible. 
That  both  the  Bible  and  the  said  metre  are  mistaken,  in  regard  to  Ps. 
Ixxii.  15,  is  not  so  clear  to  me,  as  to  Dr  Smith.  The  word  translated 
"to"  in  the  Prayer  Book,  and  "for"  in  the  Bible,  is  njr:i.  Parkhurst, 
in  his  Lexicon  (1st  edition),  considers  it  as  a  difficult  word.  If  the  sen. 
timent  be,  as  I  take  to  be  intended  in  the  Bible,  that  prayer  shall  be 
made  for  the  increase  of  tlie  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  the  usual  import 
of  the  said  Hebrew  word  favours  "  for"  more  than  "  to."  And  Dr  Smith 
will  agree  with  me,  that  we  are  not  so  barren  of  anti-Socinian  terms,  as 
that  we  should  strain  any  passage  to  our  purpose.  The  translators  of 
the  Bible  were  no  favourers  of  the  Socinian  errors  ;  and  as  they  had  the 
Prayer  Book  translation  before  them,  it  is  not  probable  that  they  lightly 
disregarded  it  in  this  instance.  On  consulting  Dr  Lowth,  Bishop  Pa- 
trick and  Bishop  Home,  who  were  unquestionably  orthodox,  I  find  them 
^satisfied  with  the  translation.  The  latter  has  been  celebrated  as  an  He-, 
brew  scholar,  and  his  interpretation  of  the  text  is  agreeable  to  that  given 
above. 

I  wish  Dr  Smith  success  in  his  endeavour  to  introduce  chanting  into 
churches  ;  but  hope  he  will  take  along  with  him  the  maxim — "  7ie  quid 
nitnis." 

If  this  can  furnish  you  with  any  hints  for  your  correspondence,  you 
will  make  what  use  of  it  you  please. 

Yours,  affectionately, 

wm  white. 


350  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

June  22,  1809. 
Dear  Sir : 

You  this  morning  noticed  to  me,  that  in  my  letter  of  the  day  before 
yesterday,  my  attention  had  not  been  drawn  to  that  part  of  Dr  Smith's 
letter,  which  mentions,  as  a  striking  circumstance,  and  wishing  it  ac- 
counted for,  that  in  Scripture  the  definite  article  is  prefixed  to  the  word 
"  angel." 

I  suppose  Dr  Smith  alludes  to  a  position  maintained  by  some  of  our 
best  writers,  and  supposed  to  have  been  demonstrated  by  Dr  AUise,  that 
the  ancient  Jews  conceived  of  their  expected  Messiah,  as  having  mani- 
fested himself  to  their  nation  in  sundry  of  the  recorded  angelic  appear- 
ances. This  fact  is  affirmed  on  such  respectable  testimony,  that  I  can 
hardly  doubt  of  it ;  and  it  makes  strongly  against  the  Socinian  scheme. 

Nevertheless,  I  do  not  lay  much  stress  on  the  definite  article,  as  ap- 
plying to  this  point.  In  Hebrew,  the  end  of  it  is  served  by  the  letter 
n.  Now  in  the  few  passages  which  I  have  examined,  I  do  not  find  it 
used  in  such  a  manner  as  to  discriminate  the  sense  in  question.  For 
instance,  there  are  no  passages  applied  as  above,  other  than  Is.  Ixiii.  9, 
and  Mai.  iii.  1,  the  latter  part  of  the  verse.  In  the  last  mentioned  text, 
the  English  word  is  "  messenger ;"  but  the  Hebrew  is  i;rSn ;  usually 
translated  angel ;  which  Hebrew  word  has  not  the  definite  n,  in  the 
said  two  passages.  I  find  it,  however,  in  Gen.  xlviii.  16  :  and  might 
probably  find  it  in  other  places,  if  I  had  time  for  the  search.  There  is 
no  place  where  one  would  look  for  it  sooner,  with  a  view  to  the  distinc- 
tion in  question,  than  in  Ex.  iii.  2  ;  because  of  certain  expressions  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  6th  verse.     Yet  it  is  not  there. 

I  have  presumed  Dr  Smith's  question  to  be  wholly  intended  of  the  Old 
Testament ;  for  as  to  the  New,  it  will  hardly  be  thought  that  the  Mes- 
siah was  spoken  of  as  "  the  angel,"  after  his  incarnation,  as  in  Acts  x. 
7,  and  xii.  8.  Even  before  that,  even  the  angel  (o  A-yyiKo?)  who  appeared 
to  Zacharias  says,  "  I  am  Gabriel." 

These  are  hasty  remarks  ;  but  the  best  occurring. 
Yours,  affectionately, 

vvm  white. 


APPENDIX.  351 

V. 

(Page  187  ante.) 

AN  ADDRESS  AND  A  FORM  OF  PRAYER, 

Used  in  presence  of  the  President,  the  Senate,  and  the  House  of  Re- 
j)rese7itatives  of  Ike  United  States;  on  the  occasion  of  the  solemnity 
jtroduced  by  the  Decease  of  General  Washington,  and  preparatory 
to  the  delivery  of  an  Oration  in  honour  of  the  Deceased,  by  Major 
General  Lee,*  on  the  2Qth  January  1800. 

•'  Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  Ahnighty  God,  in  his  wise  providence, 
to  take  out  of  this  world"  our  beloved  brother  in  Christ,  and  our  ever 
honoured  fellow-citizen,  George  Washington,  formerly  president  of  these 
United  States ;  and,  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  commander-in-chief  of 
the  armies  of  the  same  ;  let  us  bow  down  our  souls  in  lowly  submission, 
under  this  afflictive  dispensation.  Let  us  oifer  up  our  thanksgivings  and 
praises  for  the  good  example,  for  the  exalted  character,  and  for  the  sig- 
nal services  of  the  illustrious  deceased.  And  let  us  pray  that,  through 
divine  grace,  we  may  make  a  religious  improvement  of  the  mournful 
event  commemorated :  so  that  after  this  transitory  life  shall  be  ended, 
we  may  rest  with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect ;  and  finally  may 
obtain  unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  O'ur  Lord  ;  at 
whose  second  coming  in  glorious  majesty  to  judge  the  world,  the  earth 
and  sea  shall  give  up  their  dead  ;  and  the  corruptible  bodies  of  those  who 
sleep  in  him  shall  be  changed ;  and  made  like  unto  his  own  glorious 
body;  according  to  the  mighty  working  whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue 
all  things  unto  himself. 

"Almighty  God;  with  whom  do  live  the  spirits  of  those  who  depart 
hence  in  the  Lord  ;  and  with  whom  the  souls  of  the  faithful,  after  they 
are  delivered  from  the  burthen  of  the  flesh,  are  in  joy  and  felicity :  we 
give  thee  hearty  thanks  for  the  good  examples  of  all  those  thy  servants, 
who,  having  finished  their  course  in  faith,  do  now  rest  from  their  labours." 
And  herein  we  especially  adore  and  magnify  thy  name,  for  the  eminent 
virtues  and  the  illustrious  actions  of  thy  deceased  servant,  the  late  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  And  while  we  ac- 
knowledge thy  undeserved  mercies,  in  having  given  him,  at  sundry  times 
of  difficulty  and  danger,  to  the  councils  and  to  the  armies  of  this  land  ; 
we  pray  that  the  present  season  of  sensibility  may  impress  us  with  due 
gratitude  for  the  fatherly  protection,  which,  through  him,  has  been  ex- 
tended to  us  by  thee,  the  Supreme  Author  of  all  good.     May  his  memory 

*  The  same  form  of  prayer  was  again  used  (mutatis  imitandis),  on  the  24th  of  September 
1835,  on  the  occasion  of  commemorating  the  decease  of  the  Hon.  John  Marshall,  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  United  States  ;  and  preceding  an  eulogy  on  his  character,  by  Horace  Binney,  Esq. 


352  LIF,E  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

be  an  incentive  to  those  who  shall  come  after  him,  in  the  presidency,  in 
the  command  of  armies,  and  in  all  the  employments  of  the  state.  And 
may  posterity,  while  they  shall  inherit  the  lustre  of  his  name,  enjoy  the 
benefit  of  his  life,  in  a  continuance  of  the  happy  consequences  of  his  la- 
bours ;  and  in  a  succession  of  great  and  good  men,  to  the  glory  of  thy 
name,  and  the  prosperity  of  thy  people  to  the  end  of  time.  Finally,  we 
pray  "  that  we,  with  all  those  thy  servants  who  have  departed  this  life  in 
the  true  faith  and  fear  of  thy  holy  name,  may  rest  in  thee,  and  at  last 
have  our  perfect  consummation  of  bliss,  both  in  body  and  soul,  in  thy 
eternal  kingdom,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."     Amen. 

"  O  God,  whose  days  are  without  end,  and  whose  mercies  are  without 
number ;  make  us,  we  beseech  thee,  sensible  of  the  shortness  and  the 
uncertainty  of  this  mortal  life  ;"  and  may  we  be  resigned  to  thy  will  in 
every  event  of  life  and  of  death  ;  and  especially  on  the  present  occasion 
of  general  loss  and  grief.  We  implore  the  same  for  thy  servant,  the 
afflicted  relict  of  the  deceased;  and  for  all  allied  to  him  in  family  or  in 
friendship  :  beseeching  thee  that  they  may  be  sustained  under  their  sor- 
rows by  the  promises  of  thy  Word  ;  which  encourages  us  not  to  sorrow 
as  those  who  have  no  hope.  And  we  pray  for  them,  for  ourselves,  and 
for  a  whole  mourning  nation,  that  "  thy  holy  spirit  may  lead  us  through 
this  vale  of  misery,  in  righteousness  and  holiness  before  thee,  all  our 
days  ;  that  when  we  shall  have  served  thee  in  our  generation,  we  may  be 
gathered  unto  our  fathers,  having  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience ; 
in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  in  the  confidence  of  a  certain 
faith  ;  in  the  comfort  of  a  reasonable,  religious  and  holy  hope  ;  in  favour 
with  thee,  our  God  ;  and  in  perfect  charity  with  the  world.  All  which  we 
ask  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."     Amen. 

O  God,  who  hast  instructed  us  in  thy  Holy  Word  to  render  honour  to 
whom  it  is  due  ;  we  implore  thy  blessing  on  the  celebration  which  is  to 
follow.  Support  in  the  discharge  of  this  duty  thy  servant,  to  whom  it  is 
committed.  May  this  tribute  of  public  gratitude  and  of  private  friend- 
ship obtain  a  reputation  as  extensive  as  that  of  the  great  name  which  it 
commemorates.  May  the  inhabitants  of  this  land,  while  with  united 
hearts  and  voices  they  proclaim  the  praises  of  the  assertor  of  their  rights, 
the  defender  of  their  liberties  and  the  vindicator  of  their  laws,  be  perpetu- 
ating a  call  to  virtuous  and  great  achievements.  And  may  all  who,  like 
our  departed  chief,  of  blessed  memory,  shall  be  eminent  benefactors  of  man- 
kind, like  him  also,  find  a  grateful  people  honouring  them  in  their  lives  and 
in  their  deaths.     Which  we  ask  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

"  Now  the  God  of  peace,  who  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the 
everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do  his 
will ;  working  in  you  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord ;  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever."*     Amen. 

*    Heb.  xiii.  20,  21. 


APPENDIX.  353 

VI. 

(Page  201  ante.) 

ON  BUILDING  A  NEW  CHURCH. 

Thoughts  suggested  by  the  design  of  building  a  new  Church ;  and 
tending  to  recommend  economy  in  the  execution  of  the  design. 

A  question  has  been  raised  whether  it  be  consistent  with  the  spirit  of 
our  holy  religion,  that  in  the  building  of  churches  there  should  ever  be 
attention  paid  to  magnificence  and  decoration?  And  the  negative  of  the 
question  has  been  thought  established  by  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and 
the  very  early  Christians  ;  among  whom  there  were  unquestionably  no 
expensive  buildings  ;  nor  indeed,  for  a  considerable  time,  any  places  of 
worship,  other  than  such  as  were  afforded  by  the  hospitality  of  indivi- 
duals. 

There  seems  to  me  no  weight  in  this  argument.  And  indeed  it  would 
extend  to  prove,  that  as  St  Paul  preached  "  in  an  upper  chamber,"  at  a 
time  when  it  was  expedient  to  conceal  the  assemblies  of  the  faithful 
from  the  jealous  eye  of  persecution,  the  same  should  be  done  now,  when 
no  danger  threatens  ;  and  that  because  some  of  the  early  Christians  took 
shelter  in  caves,  and  there  exercised  their  religious  rites,  the  imitating 
of  them  in  this  would  be  an  imitation  of  their  devotion. 

No  :  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles  have  left  this  matter  to  times  and 
circumstances  ;  and  our  proper  directory  is  that  discretion  which  should 
govern  in  all  the  affairs  of  men ;  and  which  clearly  dictates,  that  the  end 
of  building  a  church  being  the  accommodating  of  a  collective  body  for 
social  worship,  all  should  be  made  subservient  to  this  ;  that  if  the  end 
may  be  aided  by  ornament,  it  may  properly  be  applied  ;  but  that  when  it 
exacts  the  sacrifice  of  utility,  it  is  so  far  the  effect,  not  of  religious  sen- 
timent, but  of  vanity. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  that  the  grand,  the  sublime  and  the  beautiful  may 
be  applied  to  a  religious  use  ;  and  the  contrary  position  involves  the  ab- 
surdity of  supposing,  that  devout  sentiments  are  improperly  excited  in  us 
by  the  arch  of  heaven,  and  by  the  inviting  colour  which  it  displays.  In 
vain  it  will  be  said  that  this  is  the  work  of  the  divine  hand,  while  the 
other  is  the  effort  of  human  skill.  For  what  but  the  wisdom  of  God  has 
endowed  mankind  with  capacity  for  an  imitation  (however  hiynble)  of 
his  works  ]  And  what  else  implanted  a  disposition  in  us  to  take  pleasure 
in  such  a  display  of  genius  ? 

For  this  reason,  when  I  am  delighted  with  poetry,  or  with  music,  or 
with  painting,  or  with  architecture — I  name  them  together  as  kindred 
arts-^I  have  no  more  doubt  that  my  sensibility  to  them  is  the  work  of 


354  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

God,  than  that  this  may  be  said  of  my  organs  of  sight  and  hearing :  and 
it  follows,  that  improvements  in  the  last  of  these  arts  may  laudably  be 
applied  to  the  rendering  of  the  imagination  subservient  to  that  religious 
object ;  which  is  also  aimed  at  through  the  medium  of  the  judgment  and 
of  the  affections  :  so  that  among  a  people  very  rich,  and  especially  under 
a  government  which  makes  religion  a  branch  of  its  policy,  the  taking  of 
care  that  the  magnificence  of  churches  shall  keep  pace  with  that  of  pri- 
vate dwellings,  is  a  reasonable  tribute  of  gratitude  to  the  bestower  of  all 


But  when  I  speak  of  magnificence  and  of  beauty  in  architecture,  I 
distinguish  between  works  adorned  by  those  attractive  properties,  and 
such  as  claim  them  on  the  mere  ground  of  the  expenditures  they  have 
occasioned  :  like  a  tawdry  beau  or  belle,  who  estimate  their  appearance 
by  the  expense  of  their  dress,  without  regard  to  taste,  or  to  its  being  fitted 
to  their  persons.  The  science  of  architecture,  like  every  other  science, 
has  fixed  principles :  and  there  are  certain  principles  which  have  stood 
the  test  of  the  criticism  of  ages  ;  which  seems  an  evidence  that  they  are 
founded  in  nature.  But  there  are  many  of  our  costly  buildings  which, 
if  stripped  of  what  was  designed  as  decoration,  but  is  not  conformed  to 
any  acknowledged  standard  in  that  line,  would  be  as  plain  as  any  meet- 
ing house  in  which  decoration  is  objected  to  on  the  ground  of  conscientious 
scruples.  Accordingly,  if  we  could  afford  to  erect  a  church  in  which 
skill  in  architecture  were  to  be  called  in  to  aid  the  higher  views  of  the 
design,  I  would  be  for  employing  an  acknowledged  master  in  the  depart- 
ment ;  and  I  would  appropriate  for  the  purpose  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  :  a  sum  which  I  suppose  proper,  on  the  ground  that  at  least  as 
much,  it  is  said,  will  be  laid  out  (no  doubt  properly)  on  a  church  of  mo- 
derate size,  which  a  wealthy  corporation  of  our  communion  are  now 
erecting  in  New  York. 

But  are  the  vestry  of  our  churches  likely  to  be  possessed  of  the  means 
of  such  an  expenditure  as  this  1  They  certainly  are  not;  and  my  infe- 
rence is,  that  it  will  be  wise  in  them  to  resist  every  scheme  of  expense 
which  may  be  dispensed  with.  But  it  may  be  said,  cannot  we,  at  a  far 
less  expense  than  has  been  stated,  indulge  the  taste  for  ornamental  archi- 
tecture  in  a  degree  ?  Probably  we  may  :  but  still,  not  without  a  very 
considerable  expense  ;  provided  we  have  recourse  to  acknowledged  skill ; 
instead  of  being  led  by  those  who  measure  taste  by  expense,  and  who 
substitute  their  own  notions  for  the  principles  of  a  science  which  they 
never  studied.  But  if  we  could  command  money  beyond  what  is  called 
for  by  mere  utility,  we  ought  to  inquire  what  objects  should  be  accom- 
plished before  we  lay  out  a  dollar  for  the  gratification  of  taste.  And 
here,  to  set  aside  other  matters  which  might  be  mentioned,  I  wonder  that 
a  Christian  society  should  expend  money  in  that  way,  while  they  are 
without  adequate  provision  for  their  aged  poor  of  both  sexes  ;  and  for  the 
feeding,  clothing  and  instructing  of  poor  children.  These  are  works 
which  are  more  congenial  with  our  Christian  profession  than  expensive 


APPENDIX.  355 

buildings  ;  and  the  latter,  without  the  other,  may  even  be  considered  as 
a  subject  of  reproach. 

But  we  have  little  reason  to  expect  that  there  will  be  more  subscribed 
than  what  a  plain  building  and  the  necessary  lots  require.  Let  us  then 
imagine  the  case  that  we  contract  for  work  more  costly  than  the  sub- 
scriptions warrant :  and  let  us  inquire  what  will  be  the  probable  conse- 
quence  of  this  ? 

First,  additional  subscriptions  will  be  necessary  ;  and  then  a  great 
proportion  of  the  subscribers  will  find  their  zeal  damped  (and  I  think 
justly)  by  such  expenditures  as  they  may  judge  superfluous.  Next,  we 
shall  have  a  remaining  debt,  preventing  the  employment  of  another  mi- 
nister :  a  measure  which,  however  evidently  proper,  will  not,  I  trust,  be 
thought  of  until  the  revenue  of  the  new  church  shall  make  a  clear  addi- 
tion  to  the  revenue  of  the  old.  Further,  it  will  retard  the  long  contera- 
plated  building  of  a  church  for  the  accommodation  of  the  Northern  Li- 
berties.  For  which  purpose,  I  think  it  would  be  proper  to  keep  in  bank 
any  moneys  which  we  may  collect  (if  any  such  there  should  be)  beyond 
what  may  be  necessary  to  accomplish  our  present  design,  on  the  most 
frugal  plan.  Besides  these  things,  if  a  debt  should  remain,  it  may  drive 
us  to  the  expedient  of  a  lottery  ;  which  is  opposed  to  the  principles  of 
some  of  our  people,  and  would  be  painful  to  the  feelings  of  them  all  ; 
as  the  least  honourable  way,  at  best,  of  erecting  houses  of  divine  wor- 
ship. Even  in  regard  to  the  opinions  of  people  of  other  religious  soci- 
eties, it  may  be  well  to  take  care  that  our  "good  be  not  evil  spoken  of." 
And  lastly,  if  we  should  ever  have  recourse  to  such  an  expedient,  and  be 
successful  in  obtaining  permission  for  it,  there  will  be  in  the  mean  time 
the  alternative  of  having  our  ears  assailed  by  the  clamours  of  industrious 
tradesmen,  complaining  of  the  detention  of  what  their  labours  shall  have 
earned,  or  of  taking  up  money  on  the  security  of  individual  members  of 
the  vestry,  provided  any  will  be  so  liberal  as  to  consent  to  such  a  use  of 
their  credit :  for  private  security  is,  I  believe,  always  exacted  when  mo- 
ney is  lent  for  the  use  of  churches. 

My  principles  on  the  present  subject  have  been  long  since  adopted  by 
me,  as  having  influences  on  our  Church  at  large.  We  live  in  a  country 
advancing  in  population  and  in  improvements  ;  which  will  require  a 
proportionate  increase  of  the  number  of  buildings  for  divine  worship. 
Under  these  circumstances ;  and  there  existing  a  rivalship  of  commu- 
nions ;  it  is  obvious  that  they  who  exercise  the  most  moderation  in  their 
buildings  will  find  it  comparatively  easier  to  accommodate  their  increa- 
sing numbers  ;  and  thus,  not  only  to  fix  them  to  their  respective  com- 
munions,  but  to  acquire  a  great  accession  of  people  ;  who  will  avail 
themselves  of  what  has  been  provided  for  them  by  the  frugal  zeal  of 
other  denominations  ;  but  what  is  unattainable  by  their  own,  unless  at 
an  expense  which  is  despaired  of.  This  is  a  consideration  which  will 
have  weight  with  every  man  wiio  is  attached  to  our  ecclesiastical  sys- 


356  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

tern,  on  grounds  which  apply  to  it  independently  on  the  style  of  the 
building  in  which  its  services  are  performed. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  carry  my  sentiments  to  the  extent  of 
excluding  all  regard  to  beauty  in  the  erecting  of  an  economical  building. 
I  would  adopt  handsome  in  preference  to  ugly  shapes,  in  the  general 
structure  and  in  its  parts,  I  would  unite  utility,  beauty  and  cheapness, 
where  it  could  be  done :  and  especially  what  is  useful  should  be  made  as 
beautiful  as  cheapness  will  permit.  But  I  would  not  suffer  a  stroke  of 
work  to  be  done,  of  which  it  might  be  said — This  is  for  ornament,  without 
any  reference  to  use. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  thought,  that  as  the  vestry  evidently  contemplate  a 
plain  building,  I  might  have  spared  myself  the  trouble  of  committing 
these  remarks  to  paper.  But  I  apprehend,  that  however  correct  our  in- 
tentions, we  shall  be  assailed  by  importunities  for  deviation.  I  have 
already  heard  various  matters  suggested,  confessedly  without  any  refe- 
ference  to  religious  worship,  but  from  the  sole  view  of  making  the  con- 
templated  building  an  ornament  to  the  city.  Now  I  confess  this  to  be 
a  laudable  purpose,  if  not  effected  by  improper  means  :  but  such  I  con- 
sider the  incumbering  ourselves  with  debt ;  and  even  the  expending  in 
ornament  of  what  we  actually  want  for  useful  purposes  of  our  com- 
munion. 

These  are  my  sentiments  on  the  subject.  They  are  expressed  with- 
out a  wish  that  they  may  have  influence  further  than  as  the  correctness 
of  them  may  be  apparent. 

December  24,  1806.  Wm  WHITE. 


VII. 

(Page  212  ante.) 

AN   ADDRESS  AND  A  FORM  OF   PRAYER,  AT  THE  COMMEM- 
ORATION OF  THE  DECEASE  OF  GENERAL  LA  FAYETTii. 

Brethren  :  We  are  assembled  for  the  presenting  of  a  tribute  of  respect 
to  the  memory  of  General  La  Fayette — that  illustrious  person,  in  whose 
character  our  whole  country  feel  a  deep  interest.  You  are  aware  that 
this  national  sensibility  has  been  excited  by  the  early  part  zealously 
taken  by  him  in  defence  of  our  liberties  and  in  the  establishment  of  our 
independence,  and  by  his  exertions,  through  a  long  life,  in  favour  of  social 


APPENDIX.  357 

virtue  and  social  happiness.  Accordingly,  let  us  offer  up  our  thanksgiv- 
ings to  Almighty  God  for  the  services  of  the  said  deceased  ;  and  let  us 
pray,  that,  through  the  assistance  of  divine  grace,  we  may  be  enabled  to 
make  a  religious  use  of  the  mournful  event  commemorated. 

Great  and  glorious  God,  we  adore  and  bless  thee  for  the  services  of  all 
those  who  in  their  respective  generations  have  been  useful  instruments  of 
thy  gracious  providence  for  the  accomplishment  of  public  good.  Espe- 
cially we  magnify  thy  name,  for  the  illustrious  actions  of  the  eminent 
person  whose  decease  we  are  assembled  to  deplore.  May  his  memory 
be  an  incentive  to  those  who  are  now,  or  who  shall  be  hereafter,  promoted 
to  places  of  public  trust  and  usefulness.  May  posterity,  while  they  shall 
inherit  the  lustre  of  his  name,  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his  labours,  and  wit- 
ness a  succession  of  great  and  good  men,  to  the  glory  of  thy  name  and 
the  prosperity  of  thy  people,  to  the  end  of  time.  Finally,  we  pray,  that 
all  who,  like  the  deceased,  shall  be  eminent  benefactors  to  mankind,  like 
him,  also,  may  find  grateful  people,  honouring  them  in  their  lives  and  in 
their  deaths.  All  these  things  we  ask,  in  the  name  and  through  the  me- 
rits of  thy  blessed  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 

O  God,  whose  days  are  without  end  and  whose  mercies  are  without 
number,  make  us  all,  we  beseech  thee,  sensible  of  the  shortness  and  of 
the  uncertainty  of  this  mortal  life.  May  we  be  resigned  to  thy  will  in 
every  event,  whether  of  life  or  of  death.  And  may  thy  Holy  Spirit  lead 
us  through  this  vale  of  suffering  and  of  sorrow,  in  holiness  and  righteous- 
ness before  thee,  all  our  days  :  that  when  we  shall  have  finished  our 
course,  it  may  be  in  the  confidence  of  a  sure  faith,  in  the  comfort  of  a 
reasonable  and  holy  hope,  in  peace  with  thee  our  God,  and  in  charity 
with  all  mankind.  These  things  we  ask,  in  the  name  and  through  the 
merits  of  thy  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour.     Amen. 

O  God,  who  hast  instructed  us  in  thy  Holy  Word  to  render  honour  to 
whom  it  is  due,  we  implore  thy  blessing  on  the  celebration  which  is  to 
follow.  Support,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duty,  thy  servant,  to  whom  it 
is  committed.  And  may  this  tribute  of  public  gratitude  and  of  private 
friendship  tend  to  thy  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 
Amen. 

"  Now  the  God  of  peace,  who  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the 
everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work,  to  do  his 
will ;  working  in  you  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord ;  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever."*     Amen. 

*    Heb.  xiii.  10. 

2f 


358  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 


VIII. 

(Page  22G  ante.) 

TWO  ADDRESSES  DELIVERED  AT  THE  SPECIAL  CONVEN- 
TION OF  THE  DIOCESE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  IN  OCTOBER 
1826. 

Address  at  the  opening  of  the  Convention. 

Brethren,  the  Members  of  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese  here  assembled  : 
The  call  of  this  body  has  been  in  virtue  of  a  power  entrusted  to  your 
bishop  by  the  constitution.  However  unquestionable  the  right,  there  is 
responsibility  to  public  opinion  in  the  exercise  of  it,  in  relation  to  a  sub- 
ject so  interesting  to  the  cause  of  religion  within  the  diocese.  The  mo- 
tives to  the  measure  have  been  set  forth  in  the  communication  to  the 
standing  committee ;  agreeably  to  which  there  issued  the  summonses  by 
that  body  to  the  present  meeting.  The  increase  of  the  duties  of  the  epis- 
copacy, their  increasing  interference  with  the  parochial  duties  of  the 
bishop,  and  his  advance  in  years,  were  the  reasons  submitted  to  the  com- 
mittee, and  should  be  borne  in  mind. 

Your  bishop,  in  his  said  communication,  went  no  further  than  an  exhi- 
bition of  what  he  thought  the  exigency  of  the  case,  leaving  all  attendant 
circumstances  to  be  provided  for  by  the  standing  committee,  so  far  as 
was  within  their  sphere ;  and  beyond  this,  to  the  convention  when  it 
should  be  assembled.  On  the  same  principle,  whatever  might  be  con- 
strued an  endeavour  to  give  a  direction  to  your  proceedings,  has  been 
avoided  by  him.  It  is  his  intention  to  persevere  in  this  line  of  conduct  ; 
especially  so  far  as  the  contrary  might  have  a  bearing  on  the  character 
or  on  the  qualifications  of  any  individual,  until  the  subject  shall  be 
brought  before  the  house  of  bishops  by  three  precedent  measures  :  an 
election  by  this  body  ;  their  testimonial  in  favour  of  the  person  elected, 
to  be  individually  signed  by  the  greater  number  of  the  members ;  and 
another  testimonial  to  be  individually  signed  by  the  greater  number  of 
the  members  of  the  house  of  clerical  and  lay  deputies  of  the  general  con- 
vention, expected  to  assemble  in  this  city  within  a  few  days,  all  of  which 
are  exacted  by  the  canons. 

The  forbearance  mentioned  has  not  been  owing  to  indifference  to  the 
subject.  There  are  several  reasons  which  ought  to  induce  the  taking  of 
a  deep  interest  in  it;  and  it  is  in  consequence  of  solicitude,  felt  from  the 
beginning,  that  I  proceed  to  lay  before  you  three  points,  which  have 
pressed  on  my  mind  with  especial  weight ;  not  as  comprehending  all  the 
qualifications  desirable  in  the  episcopal  character,  and  perhaps  essential 
to  any  considerable  measure  of  usefulness  in  it,  but  being  such,  as  that 


APPENDIX.  359 

deficiency  in  any  one  of  them  would  threaten  extreme  injury  to  the 
church  within  the  diocese. 

The  point  to  be  first  mentioned,  and  certainly  the  first  in  importance, 
is  piety,  manifested  by  a  long  perseverance  in  the  profession  of  Christian 
obligation,  and  by  a  consistent  life  and  conversation.     This  is  a  position 
so  manifestly  important,  as  would  excuse  from  further  notice  of  it,  but 
for  the  expediency  of  exhibiting  it  in  such  a  point  of  view,  as  that  it  may 
have  an  especial  bearing  on  the  occasion.     For  this  reason,  when  the 
possession  of  piety  is  spoken  of,  it  should  be  understood  of  that  of  the 
heart,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  by  the  conversation  and  the  conduct,  co- 
incident with  correct  views  of  the  Gospel  dispensation.     It  sometimes 
happens  that  with  the  first  impressions  of  religion,  especially  when  ex- 
cited in  the  course  of  a  life  of  entire  forgetfulness  of  God,  there  are 
awakened  sensibilities,  which,  from  the  want  of  a  proper  direction,  be- 
come the  sources  of  many  errors,  continuing  to  be  combined  with  them 
under  the  law  of  association  during  the  whole  of  succeeding  life.     In 
any  professor  of  Christianity  this  is  to  be  deplored ;  in  the  pastor  of  a 
congregation,  the  mischief  is  more  extensive ;  and  in  him  who  is  to  pre- 
side in  a  large  body  of  his  clerical  brethren,  there  is  no  knowing  to  what 
length  the  deteriorating  influence  may  reach.     The  subject  may  remind 
us  of  what  we  learn  from  St  Paul,  that  with  "  the  gold,  the  silver  and 
the  precious  stones"  of  evangelical  piety,  there  may  be  "  the  wood,  the 
hay  and  the  stubble"  of  matters  unauthorized  by  the  v/ord  of  God.    Now 
whatever  tenderness  may  be  due,  in  consideration  of  human  frailty,  yet, 
if  the  introduction  of  such  adventitious  matters  should  characterize  the 
bishops  of  our  Church,  she  will  no  longer  be  conformed  to  the  pattern  of 
the  primitive  church  as  existing  for  some  centuries  after  the  age  of  the 
apostles  ;  nor  to  that  model,  as  cleared  of  a  load  of  errors,  by  the  reforma- 
tion ;  nor  to  the  same  as  illustrated  in  the  Church  of  England,  by  the 
characters  and  the  writings  of  a  long  series  of  prelates,  of  other  divines, 
and  of  not  a  few  of  the  learned  of  the  laity,  extending  to  the  present  day. 
The  next  point  in  contemplation  is  the  being  furnished  with  such  a 
measure  of  theological  literature  as  may  be  shown  to  be  called  for  by  the 
station  of   a   bishop :   and  when  this  qualification  is  mentioned,  there 
should  be  considered  as  implied  under  the  term,  acquirements  not  exclu- 
sively ecclesiastical,  but  called  for  by  such  as  should  be  so  entitled,  in 
the  strict  and  proper  sense.     It  is  a  task  of  some  delicacy  when  the 
matter  in  question  is  now  presented ;  since  there  may  seem  implied  by 
the  speaker,  his  claiming  of  what  is  called  for  in  his  successor.     The 
same  reserve  may  be  considered  as  having  been  due  on  the  former  point. 
Under  that,  however,  there  was  considered  the  saying  of  St  Paul — "  it 
is  a  small  thing  to  be  judged  of  man's  judgment."     As  to  the  present 
point,  two  answers  may  be  given  :  first,  that  in  proportion  to  the  defi- 
ciency of  the  present  bishop,  there  is  a  demand  for  a  supply  of  it  in 
the  choice  before  you  ;  and,  secondly,  that  at  the  period  of  the  former 
choice,  since  which  forty  years  have  passed  away,  the  extreme  destitu- 


360  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

tion  of  our  Church  seems  to  have  apologized  for  a  degree  of  condescen- 
sion, which  would  be  unjustifiable  at  the  present  time  ;  when  the  person 
to  be  elected  will  have  to  take  his  seat,  in  a  body  possessed  of  such  a 
stock  of  talent  and  of  acquirement,  as  would  render  the  want  of  them  in 
the  representive  of  this  diocese  a  lessening  of  its  reputation  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  general  union,  and  after  the  lapse  of  some  time,  and  after 
the  subsiding  of  present  impressions,  a  permanent  subject  of  mortification 
to  all  orders  of  persons  within  our  bounds. 

The  remaining  point  is  attachment  and  conformity  to  the  institu- 
tions of  our  Church,  in  doctrine,  in  worship,  and  in  ecclesiastical  consti- 
tution and  government :  a.  sentiment  so  far  from  being  inconsistent  with 
liberality  to  forms  of  profession  preferred  by  our  fellow  Christians  of 
various  denominations,  that  it  is  the  only  ground  on  which  peace  and 
mutual  good  will  between  us  can  be  maintained.  On  this  ground,  he 
who  addresses  you  has  acted  for  more  than  half  a  century.  He  thinks 
that  he  has  found  the  fruit  of  it,  in  the  friendships  of  many  wise  and 
pious  persons,  whose  sentiments  on  some  points  differ  materially  from 
his  own :  whereas,  had  their  theories  been  brought  into  collision,  in  dis- 
courses under  the  same  roofs,  there  is  no  knowing  in  what  degree  there 
might  have  been  the  excitement  of  unamiable  sensations,  nor  to  what 
extent  the  consequences  might  have  been  injurious. 

Thus  the  subject  appears  to  him,  as  connected  with  Christian  discre- 
tion, and  with  a  view  to  utility.  But  it  comes  under  a  more  serious 
aspect  when  taken  up  in  its  relation  to  the  integrity  of  divine  truth. 
While  we  believe  that  the  doctrines  of  grace,  as  contained  in  our  arti- 
cles, are  precisely  what  were  professed  by  the  whole  body  of  professing 
Christians  during  the  first  three  centuries,  we  are  not  ignorant  that  at  no 
very  long  period  afterwards  there  were  engrafted  on  them  speculations, 
the  fruit  of  misguided  ingenuity;  that  these  were  cultivated  and  enlarged, 
during  the  reign  of  succeeding  errors,  especially  among  the  subjects  of 
some  of  the  monastical  institutions,  and  maintained  their  influence  in 
connexion  with  the  same,  and  that  when  there  was  an  abandonment  of 
the  latter,  at  the  reformation,  the  others  were  consummated  and  fastened 
on  various  forms  of  profession,  but  not  admitted  within  the  authorized 
institutions  of  the  Church  of  England. 

Besides  regard  to  integrity  of  Christian  faith,  the  Church  lays  great 
stress  on  the  worshipping  of  God  in  a  prescribed  form  of  prayer.  We 
believe  we  have  inherited  this,  first  from  the  temple  worship  divinely 
instituted  ;  then,  from  the  example  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  his  apostles, 
who  attended  the  appointed  prayers  as  well  of  the  synagogues  as  of  the 
temple ;  and,  subsequently,  from  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church  in 
the  best  ages  ;  during  which,  as  we  conceive,  there  was  no  period,  when 
every  officiating  minister  was  tolerated  in  the  utterance  of  the  immediate 
suggestions  of  his  own  mind  in  public  prayer,  although  we  do  not  allege 
that  there  was  the  same  form  obligatory  at  all  times  and  in  all  places. 
In  addition,  we  have  received  the  three  orders  of  the  ministry,  insti- 


APPENDIX.  361 

tuted  by  the  apostles,  and  universally  retained  for  about  fifteen  hundred 
years  from  the  beginning;  and  while  we  pass  no  judgment  on  what  we 
consider  the  more  modern  ministrations  of  our  fellow  Christians,  we  do 
not  think  ourselves  at  liberty  to  admit  them  within  our  pale. 

The  enumerated  particulars  have  been  cherished  by  us  ;  first,  during 
our  dependence  on  our  mother  Church  of  England,  and  since,  from  the 
beginning  of  our  present  ecclesiastical  organization.  Could  it  be  sup. 
posed  probable  that  there  will  be  hereafter  a  bishop  of  this  diocese  who 
shall  either  openly  oppose  himself  to  the  recited  properties  of  our  com- 
munion, or  endeavour  to  undermine  them  insidiously  and  by  degrees, 
heavy  will  be  his  responsibility.  Should  his  talents  be  equal  to  the  me- 
ditated undertaking,  he  may  distract  and  divide  the  Church;  but  he  will  not 
consummate  his  work :  "and  the  old  paths  will  be  still  sought"  by  those 
who  have  walked  in  them,  and  to  whom  they  have  been  endeared,  and  who 
may,  perhaps,  by  a  steady  perseverance,  regain  their  rights,  after  experi- 
ence of  the  result,  and  of  a  manifestation  of  the  spirit  which  has  produced  it. 

Of  the  body  now  assembled,  it  is  trusted,  by  him  who  addresses  them, 
that  they  will  not  lose  sight  of  the  shape  in  which  the  recited  points  have 
been  brought  before  them.  It  has  been  the  disclosing  of  a  solicitude  rest- 
ing on  the  mind  of  the  speaker,  not  merely  as  applicable  to  the  present 
crisis,  but  as  reaching  the  concerns  of  the  diocese  when  his  voice  will  be 
lieard  in  them  no  more  ;  and  perhaps,  while  it  may  still  be  heard,  either 
by  the  failure  of  a  choice  at  the  present  meeting,  or  by  the  non-compli, 
ance  with  it  when  made.  Having  been  so  long  occupied  in  sustaining 
the  principles  which  have  been  detailed,  and  being  desirous  of  continu- 
ing his  testimony,  whenever  it  shall  be  especially  called  for,  he  has  con- 
ceived of  the  present  as  an  opportunity  not  to  be  unimproved.  Could  he 
tbresee  that,  during  his  episcopacy,  either  now  or  at  any  future  time,  the 
stated  points  will  be  either  dismissed  or  disregarded,  he  would  make 
some  such  request  as  that  of  Hagar  in  the  wilderness,  in  reference  to 
what  has  been  so  long  an  object  of  his  anxieties,  of  his  prayers  and  of 
his  exertions  :  "  Let  me  not  see  the  death  of  the  child !" 

Brethren :  I  will,  no  longer  detain  you  from  the  work  for  which  you 
are  assembled,  but  shall  offer  up  my  silent  prayers  that  the  result  may  be 
such  as  shall  redound  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  to  the  peace  and  prosperity 
of  the  Church.  Next  to  this,  it  is  ray  desire  and  my  prayer  that  your  deli- 
berations may  be  conducted  in  such  a  spirit  as  would  have  borne  to  be 
laid  open  to  the  Searcher  of  Hearts  during  that  celebration  of  the  eucliar- 
istic  sacrifice  in  which  we  were  occupied  in  the  morning  of  yesterday.    . 

Wm  white. 

Address  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Convention. 
Brethren : 

In  consideration  of  the  result  of  the  business  on  which  you  have  been 
called  together,  and  aware  of  its  having  appeared  to  many  of  you  that 

2r* 


362  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

the  call  of  a  special  convention  might  have  been  dispensed  with,  either 
by  the  presentment  of  the  subject  to  the  annual  convention  in  May  last, 
or  by  reserving  of  it  to  the  convention  expected  in  May  of  the  next  year ; 
I  beg  your  patience  while  there  shall  be  accounted  for  the  state  of  my 
mind  on  these  points.  Let  the  reasons  which  influenced  me  pass  for 
what  they  may  be  worth ;  but  for  the  purity  of  my  motives,  I  throw  my- 
self on  the  judgment  of  your  charity.  In  answer  to  the  first  part  of  the 
question,  I  give  the  following  narrative. 

Within  a  considerable  time  before  my  adoption  of  the  measure — per- 
haps more  than  a  year — I  had  heard  of  some  discourse,  and  even  of  some 
measures,  tending  to  the  choice  of  an  assistant  bishop.  Since  the  last 
convention  some  of  my  brethren  of  the  clergy  intimated  to  me  their  dis- 
satisfaction with  such  discourse  and  proceedings,  carried  on  without  a 
reference  to  what  might  be  the  state  of  my  mind  on  the  subject.  Concern- 
ing this  circumstance  I  had  nothing  to  answer :  but  as  to  the  matter  itself, 
I  said,  that,  considering  my  age  and  the  weight  of  my  engagements,  I 
ought  not  to  entertain  an  objection  to  the  design.  After  a  development 
of  the  exigency  of  the  case,  there  was  expressed  to  me  the  opinion,  that 
the  Church  generally  would  appreciate  the  reasons  of  the  measure  in 
question  if  the  proposal  of  it  were  to  proceed  from  me ;  but  that  there 
would  be  reluctance  to  the  giving  of  a  beginning  to  it  from  the  motive  of 
respect.  To  the  taking  of  a  lead  in  the  matter,  the  gentlemen  with 
whom  I  conversed,  and  who,  I  believe,  had  not  been  engaged  in  any  mea- 
sure or  in  any  precedent  discourse  alluded  to,  were  decidedly  averse. 
For  some  time  I  hesitated  as  to  the  suggestion  of  my  being  the  proposer. 
My  reason  for  this  is  a  confession  now  drawn  from  me  by  the  occasion, 
and  by  regard  to  truth. 

It  has  pressed  on  my  mind  during  the  last  few  years — it  has  not  been 
so  during  the  general  course  of  my  episcopacy — that  possibly  a  candidate 
might  be  brought  forward,  whose  disposition  to  something  in  contrariety 
to  the  principles  of  our  Church  would  not  be  known  to  a  considerable 
proportion  of  our  clergy,  and  much  less  to  the  greater  number  of  our  lay 
members,  coming  from  different  sections  of  the  state,  and  having  little 
access  to  sources  of  information  concerning  characters  ;  and  that,  in  con- 
sequence,  I  might  be  put  to  the  disagreeable  predicament  of  declining  to 
join  in  the  consecration  of  such  a  person  ;  leaving  that  duty  to  any  of  my 
brethren,  if  there  should  be  any,  who  are  either  not  so  scrupulous  on  the 
subject,  or  are  not  possessed  of  the  facts  which  may  have  had  such  an 
influence  on  my  mind,  and  which  ought  to  be  of  such  a  character  that, 
for  my  refusing  of  a  participation,  I  could  answer  to  God  and  to  the 
Church.  In  proof  that  there  may  be  reason  for  the  refusal,  I  refer  to  the 
solemn  form  of  words  which  the  bishop  elect  is  required  to  take  on  his 
tongue,  before  the  advancement  of  a  step  in  the  act  of  consecration. 
How  can  any  bishop,  in  his  official  character,  knowing  the  intendment  of 
the  form,  conscientiously  accept  of  the  promise,  with  the  understanding 


APPENDIX.  363 

that  the  promiser  has  no  intention  of  performance,  according  to  the  obvi- 
ous meaning  of  the  words? 

Let  it  be  noticed,  that  the  state  of  my  mind,  now  disclosed,  had  no  re- 
ference to  any  individual,  and  that  at  the  time  of  the  conversation  refer- 
red to  no  person  was  contemplated,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  be  proposed 
as  the  assistant  bishop. 

After  considering  the  subject  in  every  point  of  view  in  which  it  pre- 
sented itself,  I  became  apprehensive  that  in  shrinking  from  responsibility, 
on  the  ground  that  has  been  stated,  it  might  be  evidence  of  more  regard 
to  personal  comfort  than  to  the  wants  of  the  diocese  which  prompted  to 
the  course  which  has  been  pursued. 

Whether  it  would  have  been  the  best  to  have  delayed  the  business  to 
the  next  annual  -convention,  is  a  matter  in  which  I  have  no  concern. 
The  standing  committee  have  acted  on  the  principles  set  forth  in  their 
document  addressed  to  the  churches,  which  to  my  mind  have  considera- 
ble weight,  although  there  are  considerations  on  the  other  side  not  to  be 
disregarded. 

Although  my  calling  you  together  has  been  ineffective  as  to  the  object 
designed  by  it,  there  ought  to  be  the  effect  of  satisfying  the  whole  dio- 
cese that  I  have  not  yet  the  frequent  infirmity  of  age,  inducing  reluc- 
tance to  yield  to  providential  entailments  on  it,  and  to  surrender  a 
portion  at  least  of  the  rights  and  of  the  influence  of  which  it  may  be 
supposed  that  long  habit  had  rendered  me  unreasonably  retentive.  From 
the  statements  made,  you  will  have  perceived  that  it  was  a  different  cause 
which  produced  in  me  reluctance  to  the  giving  a  beginning  to  the  mea- 
sure of  electing  an  assistant  bishop.  Having  dismissed  my  first  im- 
pressions, from  the  apprehension  that  they  may  have  been  in  some 
degree  selfish,  I  shall  consider  myself  excused  in  future  from  whatever 
has  a  bearing  on  the  same  object;  but  will  not  interpose  any  hindrance  to 
the  endeavours  of  others  for  the  accomplishment  of  it. 

There  is  a  claim  which  I  shall  think  myself  entitled  to  make  on  the 
indulgence  of  this  diocese,  and  with  the  greater  weight,  in  consequence 
of  the  result  of  your  deliberations.  It  is  that  in  proportion  to  what  you 
have  witnessed  of  increasing  calls  on  the  episcopacy,  seen  in  connexion 
with,  my  increasing  weight  of  years,  and  taking  into  the  account  my  large 
extent  of  local  labour,  you  will  not  complain  of  proportionally  decreasing 
exertion,  induced  by  the  many  relations  in  which  I  stand,  and  probably 
by  the  decay  of  bodily  strength,  if  not  of  mental  energy.  This  indulgence 
I  may  the  more  reasonably  expect,  if  you  should  find  in  me  what  I  pur- 
pose, with  the  aid  of  divine  grace,  that  so  long  as  my  faculties  shall  be 
continued  to  me,  my  cares  and  my  counsels  are  not  wanting  in  any  mat- 
ter that  may  concern  the  integrity,  the  peace,  the  prosperity  of  the 
Church  ;  and,  especially,  by  bearing  my  protest  against  whatever  may  be 
an  inroad  on  the  system  in  doctrine,  or  in  discipline,  or  in  ecclesiastical 
constitution  and  government.  Not  only  so,  without  founding  any  pre- 
tensions on  personal  merits,  but  availing  myself  only  of  a  long  course  of 


364  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

labours,  I  now  consider  myself  as  addressing  not  only  you,  but  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  in  the  diocese,  when  both  myself,  and  all  you,  my 
juniors,  shall  be  laid  in  the  dust. 

Brethren — With  these  sentiments,  and  with  my  wishes  for  the  safe 
return  of  the  distant  members  of  your  body  to  their  families  and  to  their 
churches,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell. 

Wm  white. 


IX. 

(Page  228  ante.)  " 

LETTERS  AND  EXTRACTS  FROM   LETTERS  TO  BISHOP 
HOBART. 

Of  Lay  Baptism  ;  and  Lawrence's  Work  on  that  subject. 

Philadelphia,  September  4,  1806. 
Dear  Sir : 

An  opportunity  offering  of  returning  your  books,  I  write  this  letter  to 
accompany  them  ;  m  which  it  is  incumbent  on  me,  in  the  first  place,  to 
thank  you  for  the  satisfaction,  though  not  for  any  conviction  which  I  have 
derived  from  the  perusal  of  these  volumes.  Mr  Lawrence  appears  to 
me  a  very  able  disputant :  and  as  he  seems  to  have  made  the  most  of 
his  cause,  it  would  be  very  agreeable  to  me  to  be  in  possession  of  his 
work.  As  I  cannot  procure  it  in  this  city,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  you  to 
purchase  it  for  me  in  New  York,  if  it  can  be  obtained  tliere. 

In  what  I  am  to  address  to  you,  let  me  not  be  understood  as  setting  up 
the  plea  of  an  inherent  right  in  a  lay  Christian  to  baptize.  I  believe  it 
to  be  within  the  sphere  of  ecclesiastical  legislation  to  direct  that  admi- 
nistrations of  this  sort  shall  be  by  the  clergy  only.  And  when  such 
restriction  obtains,  I  consider  it  as  a  matter  of  mere  ecclesiastical  pru- 
dence how  far  there  may  be  such  a  relaxation,  as  to  admit  to  com- 
munion  persons  who  have  been  baptized  irregularly  as  to  the  adminis- 
trator, but  duly  as  to  the  element  and  the  form  of  words  made  use  of: 
such  permission  being  grounded  on  the  distinction — "  quod  non  debet 
fieri  factum  valet." 

In  attending  to  Mr  Lawrence's  axioms,  definitions  and  propositions,  I 


APPENDIX.  365 

find  them  grounded  on  the  supposition  of  a  sense  in  the  commission 
given  in  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20,  not  to  be  gathered  from  the  passage  sepa- 
rately considered,  but  for  which  we  must  have  recourse  to  some  other 
passages,  not  making  the  commission  pertinent  to  his  purpose. 

The  commission  goes  no  further  than  to  the  discipline,  through  the 
medium  of  the  rite  of  baptism.  Even  to  prove  that  the  commission  was 
to  extend  beyond  the  apostles,  it  is  necessary  to  take  in  the  annexed 
promise  ;  which  however  is  full  to  that  effect.  But  neither  from  the 
commission  nor  from  the  promise  do  we  gather  that  the  former  was  to 
be  transmitted  to  successors ;  and  it  might  be,  for  any  thing  which  the 
words  express,  that  all  the  powers  vested  in  the  apostles  were  to  be  by 
them  handed  to  all  whom  they  should  disciple  and  initiate.  How  then 
does  it  appear  that  there  is  to  be  a  ministry  in  succession  ?  Certainly 
not  otherwise  than  from  the  original  commission,  taken  in  connection 
with  some  previous  intimations  of  our  Saviour ;  and  with  those  passages 
in  which  we  find  that  the  apostles  ordained  others,  and  instructed  them 
to  do  the  like  :  thus  instituting  a  succession  of  pastors  to  be  continued  to 
the  end  of  time. 

If  this  institution  of  the  ministry  was  such  as  absolutely  to  exclude 
lay  baptism,  the  same  ought  to  appear,  either  in  some  express  declara- 
tion, or  in  practice  explanatory  of  the  design.  For  unless  something  of 
this  sort  is  to  be  found,  there  seems  nothing  in  the  subject  itself  which 
makes  it  incongruous  for  those  discipled  under  the  commission  to  asso- 
ciate with  themselves  succeeding  converts,  as  is  done  by  various  bodies 
of  men  in  other  matters. 

That  there  is  any  such  declaration  will  not  be  said.  But  I  go  further, 
and  express  the  sentiment  that  there  is  considerable  evidence  of  a  con- 
trary permission.  Philip's  baptizing  of  the  Samaritans  and  of  the  eu- 
nuch seems  to  me  in  point.  It  will  be  said  that  Philip  was  a  deacon. 
But  can  it  be  imagined  that  an  order  instituted  for  the  purpose  of 
"  serving  tables"  should,  in  the  very  infancy  of  its  existence,  have  the 
offices  of  the  higher  orders  of  the  ministry  committed  to  them.  I  do 
not  deny  either  the  right  or  the  prudence  of  allowing  what  has  been  sub- 
sequently allowed  to  this  lowest  order  of  the  clergy.  All  I  contend  for 
is,  that  at  the  first  institution  of  the  order  there  could  have  been  no  dif- 
ference between  them  and  laymen,  in  regard  to  the  preaching  of  the 
word  and  the  administering  of  the  sacraments.  There  is  no  inconsis- 
tency with  this  in  the  case  of  Stephen.  He  might  have  had  the  gift  of 
miracles,  without  a  designation  to  any  order  of  the  ministry  ;  as  he 
might  without  the  same  have  disputed  with  the  Libertines,  tiie  Cyrenians 
and  the  others.  No  doubt  he  declared  to  them  the  Christian  faith.  But 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  without  being  ministers  of  the  word,  did  the  same 
to  Apollos  ;  and  we  shall  be  agreed,  that  when  there  is  a  sinfulness  in 
lay  instruction,  it  results,  not  from  the  lay  character  itself,  but  from  some 
circumstance  which  makes  it  a  violation  of  order. 
Another  passage  worthy  of  attention  is  where  St  Peter,  in  consequence 


366  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

of  tlie  pouring  out  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  Cornelius  and  his  household, 
commanded  (or  instructed)  them  to  be  baptized.  The  passage  seems  to 
imply  that  the  baptismal  act  was  performed,  not  by  St  Peter,  but  by 
some  of  the  six  brethren  who  accompanied  him  ;  concerning  whom  we 
have  not  the  least  intimation  that  they  were  of  the  ministry.  And, 
although  the  negative  cannot  be  proved,  it  is  very  improbable  that,  in 
this  infancy  of  the  apostolic  ministry,  there  should  have  been  admitted 
to  it  others,  without  any  note  of  distinction  from  the  brethren  generally. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  what  we  read  of  the  men  of  Cyprus  and 
Cyrene,  and  of  the  conversion  which  they  wrought  at  Antioch.  Were 
some  of  these  of  the  clergy,  without  its  being  noted  1  This  seems  very 
improbable.  Or  had  their  converts  "  turned  to  the  Lord"  in  any  other 
way  than  through  the  medium  of  the  rite  of  baptism  1  This  seems  not 
quite  consistent  with  Scripture  language.  It  is  true  there  was  a  mission 
of  Barnabas  to  that  people,  not,  for  any  tl)ing  that  appears,  to  baptize 
them,  but  to  strengthen  them  in  the  faith  ;  for  which  there  was  the  more 
occasion,  if,  as  f  suppose,  there  were  none  of  the  ministry  amongst  those 
who  had  informed  them  of  the  faith  in  Christ. 

I  might  be  disposed  to  be  distrustful  of  what  I  gather  from  these  pas- 
sages, if  it  did  not  appear  strongly  countenanced  by  evidences  of  lay 
baptism  in  the  early  church.  For  there  seems  to  me  to  apply  here  what 
we  say  in  favour  of  episcopacy,  that  there  could  not  so  soon  have  hap- 
pened such  a  deviation  from  primitive  practice,  v.'ithout  at  least  some 
considerable  opposition  to  the  change. 

What  Mr  Lawrence  quotes  from  St  Ignatius  .  ■  ...a  to  me  inapplicable. 
His  words  apply,  not  to  lay  baptism,  but  to  the  act  done  in  opposition 
to  authority  ;  and  they  declare  not  the  invalidity,  but  the  irregularity  of 
the  act. 

Mr  Lawrence  has  thought  it  worth  his  while  to  quote  a  passage  from 
Hermas.  This  writer  foolishly  supposes  that  the  departed  righteous,  of 
the  time  prior  to  Christianity,  were  baptized  by  the  apostles  and  other 
first  teachers  in  the  intermediate  state.  But  will  the  choice  which  this 
visionary  man  has  made  of  ministerial  agents  in  an  imaginary  employ- 
ment, prove  that,  even  in  his  day,  the  same  act  was  not  occasionally 
performed  on  the  living  by  others  than  the  ministry  1     Surely  not. 

Mr  Lawrence  considers  Tertullian's  testimony  in  favour  of  lay  baptism 
as  his  private  sentiment.  To  me  it  seems  a  testimony  to  the  occasional 
practice  of  his  day.  If  it  were  not,  and  he  has  asserted  a  falsehood,  or 
even  a  mistaken  opinion,  tending  to  introduce  a  corrupt  custom  ;  it  is 
surprising,  considering  the  estimation  bestowed  on  his  books,  that  none 
had  so  much  concern  for  the  church's  peace  as  to  guard  her  against  his 
error. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  claim  any  weight  in  favour  of  the  opinion  of  a 
council  who  made  a  canon  against  a  Christian's  eating  with  a  Jew. 
But  although  I  lay  no  stress  on  the  faith  of  the  council  of  Eliberis,  yet  I 
give  some  weight  to  their  testimony.     Judging  from  the  principles  of 


APPENDIX.  367 

human  nature,  I  cannot  suppose  that  a  rite  performed  in  the  view  of  the 
world  had  at  that  period  materially  degenerated  from  the  original  insti- 
tution :  and  it  is  very  improbable  that  the  practice  was  one  way  in  Spain, 
and  the  opposite  in  the  Christian  world  in  general. 

The  only  specious  appearance  before  the  council  of  Nice,  and  for 
some  time  after,  of  any  thing  prohibiting  of  lay  baptism  in  all  cases,  is 
in  the  instance  of  St  Cyprian,  and  those  who  thought  with  him.  But  I 
think  it  is  appearance  only.  Cyprian's  argument  against  heretical  bap- 
tism rests  on  the  ground  of  the  malignity  of  the  heresy.  If  some  of  his 
reasonings  seem  to  embrace  the  case  of  orthodox  lay  baptism,  this  was 
not  the  matter  before  him ;  and  it  is  common  for  disputants  to  express 
themselves  unguardedly  in  relation  to  other  points  than  those  they  treat 
of.  As  to  Basil's  representation  of  the  sentiments  of  Cyprian,  above  a 
century  after  he  wrote,  I  lay  little  stress  on  it.  After  all,  if  Cyprian  did 
adopt  the  opinion  of  the  invalidity  of  lay  baptism,  I  distinguish  between 
that  and  the  general  testimony  of  the  African  church.  For  in  the  de- 
terminations made  against  the  baptismal  heretics  by  the  council  of  Car- 
thage, I  do  not  recollect  any  thing  that  goes  to  this  point. 

Mr  Lawrence  makes  very  light  of  the  story  of  the  boy  Athanasius. 
But  it  should  be  remembered  that  stories  made  current  by  credulity  are 
generally  accommodated  in  their  circumstances  to  the  customs  of  the 
day.  It  is  certain  that  Socrates,  reciting  the  story  from  Ruhnus,  omits 
among  other  circumstances  that  of  the  boyish  baptism.  But  supposing, 
what  cannot  be  proved,  that  the  omission  arose  from  any  other  cause 
than  abbreviation  ;  supposing  also  Rufinus  credulous  in  the  admission  of 
the  circumstance  ;  and  supposing  (as  I  think)  that  such  a  puerile  play 
ought  not  to  have  been  held  of  importance  :  yet  this  extravagance  could 
hardly  have  arisen  without  some  colour  to  it  in  the  occasional  practice 
of  lay  baptism  in  the  Church  :  and  if  it  had,  Socrates  would  not,  I  think, 
have  failed  to  note  this  grievous  instance  of  incorrectness  in  Rufinus. 
Far  from  this,  he  bestows  a  general  approbation  on  the  story,  though  he 
does  not  relate  it  all. 

In  regard  to  the  distinction  between  heretical  baptism  and  that  of  lay- 
men strictly  speaking,  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  and  what  I  find  nothing  to 
meet  in  Mr  Lawrence,  that  the  numerous  sects  of  heretics,  antecedent 
to  the  Novatians,  had  no  consecrated  bishops ;  and  yet  their  baptisms, 
on  conformity  to  the  church,  were  admitted.  This  is  too  wide  a  field  to 
be  entered  on  in  a  letter ;  but  I  perceive  extremities  resulting  from  Mr 
Lawrence's  principles.  It  is  well  known  that  the  bishops  of  the  Ca- 
tholic Church  pronounced  the  ordinations  of  the  iieretics  null  in  as  un- 
qualified terms  as  could  have  been  devised.  And  although  they  after- 
wards admitted  them,  on  their  conformity,  to  their  several  grades ;  yet 
it  was  on  the  supposition  that  the  commission  then  given  perfected  a 
former  ceremony,  otherwise  insufficient.  But  if  you  set  aside  this  prin- 
ciple, or  contend  for  an  efficient  consecration  of  a  bishop  on  the  mere 


368  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

ground  of  the  service  being  performed  by  one  duly  consecrated  himself; 
and  even  by  this  saying  to  the  former  with  the  imposition  of  hands  "  Be 
thou  a  bishop  ;"  observe  the  consequences.  I  might  suppose  various 
cases ;  and  especially  the  mischiefs  which  might  result  from  a  licentious 
bishop  putting  himself  in  the  condition  ascribed  to  the  ordainers  of  No- 
vatian  ;  and  in  that  state  capable  of  any  extravagance.  Or  suppose  that 
such  a  man  as  the  ex-bishop  of  Autun  had  taken  it  into  his  head,  during 
the  triumph  of  atheism,  to  consecrate  the  officers  of  those  clubs  of  which 
we  have  heard  so  much  from  Professor  Robinson  and  the  Abbe  Baruel ; 
some  of  whom,  if  I  recollect  rightly,  assumed  the  names  of  the  Christian 
ministry  :  would  such  persons  be  valid  bishops,  sufficient  for  the  handing 
down  of  the  succession  ?  I  think  they  would,  on  Mr  Lawrence's  prin- 
ciples ;  and  therefore,  before  we  admit  these  principles,  let  us  be  aware 
of  what  they  lead  to. 

At  the  council  of  Nice  the  only  disorders  which  they  undertook  to 
redress  were  the  heresy  of  Arius  and  the  difference  of  usage  as  to 
Easter.  On  the  supposition  of  so  notorious  a  corruption  as  Mr  Law- 
rence conceives  lay  baptism  to  be,  and  that  countenanced  recently  by 
nineteen  bishops  in  council,  can  you  believe  that  so  venerable  a  body  as 
that  of  Nice  would  have  passed  it  over  without  a  censure  f 

After  that  council,  and  during  the  fourth  century,  the  testimonies  in 
favour  of  occasional  lay  baptism  outweigh,  in  my  mind,  those  against  it. 
Jerom  is  very  express  ;  and  Mr  Lawrence's  charge  of  inconsistency 
seems  fully  refuted  Ly  Mr  Bingham.  St  Austin's  "solemus  audire" 
conveys  to  me,  as  strongly  as  almost  any  words,  the  idea  of  ordinary 
occurrence. 

But  I  forbear  to  go  further  into  the  testimonies  of  these  times ;  and 
pass  to  the  ground,  on  which  the  subject  rests  in  the  Church  of  England 
and  our  own. 

The  rubrics,  concerning  presentation  after  private  baptism,  presume 
that  this  had  been  by  a  lawful  minister  ;  and  very  wisely  ;  because  every 
law  should  presume  that  other  laws,  coming  into  view,  would  be  com- 
plied with  ;  and  yet,  when  the  questions  to  the  sponsors  are  set  down, 
there  is  evidently  a  designed  distinction  in  them,  between  what  are  es- 
sential to  the  ordinance,  which  are  the  matter  and  the  form,  and  what 
stands  on  ecclesiastical  regulation,  which  is  the  description  of  the  ad- 
ministrator. The  same  distinction  is  studiously  maintained  in  the  rubric 
after  the  office.  But  the  question  occurs — suppose  it  appears  from  the 
answers,  that  the  child  has  been  baptized  (no  matter  as  to  the  correct- 
ness of  the  term)  by  a  layman  ;  what  is  to  be  done  1  Here  lies  the 
only  difficulty  with  me.  The  conditional  form  was  not  intended  for  the 
case.  The  form  of  admission  seems  presumptive  of  all  being  done  in 
due  order.  And  yet  there  is  no  direction  for  the  repetition  of  the  cere- 
mony ;  which  there  should  have  been  if  that  had  been  intended. 

What  light  is  to  be  gathered  then  from  the  practice  1  After  a  careful 
consideration  of  this,  my  conviction  is  complete,  that  no  re-baptization 


APPENDIX.  369 

(if  you  will  allow  the  term)  was  to  take  place.  There  is  abundant  evi- 
dence that  King  James,  who  was  the  introductor  of  the  order  for  a  law- 
ful minister,  had  no  idea  of  requiring  repetition  in  the  event  of  irregu- 
larity in  that  respect.  And  of  the  many  who,  at  the  time,  must  have 
received  lay  baptism,  I  have  never  read  of  any  person  who  was  required  to 
submit  to  a  more  correct  administration  of  the  ordinance.  At  the  restora- 
tion what  numbers  must  there  have  been  who,  having  been  baptized  by 
ministers  of  different  sects  during  the  troubles,  afterwards  joined  the 
national  Church,  without  further  invitation  !  After  the  revolution,  and 
at  the  time,  I  believe,  when  the  subject  had  been  brought  into  contro- 
versy by  Mr  Lawrence,  it  was  deliberately  determined,  in  a  conference 
at  Lambeth,  by  the  two  archbishops  and  all  the  bishops  then  in  town,  and 
that  unanimously,  **  that  lay  baptism  should  be  discouraged  as  much  as 
possible  ;  but  if  the  essentials  had  been  preserved  in  a  baptism  by  a  lay 
hand,  it  was  not  to  be  repeated."  And  these  words  are  said  to  be  taken 
from  papers  under  the  hand  of  both  the  archbishops.  There  might  be 
added  the  notoriety  of  consecrations  and  ordinations  by  the  English  pre- 
lates, of  persons  known  by  them  to  have  received  no  other  than  what 
their  church  considers  as  lay  baptism  :  and  pre-eminent  among  them  is 
Archbishop  Seeker. 

Here  I  will  take  occasion  to  note  what  I  conceive  to  be  a  defect  in 
Mr  Lawrence's  system.  He  repeatedly  declines  the  subject  how  far  the 
bishops  of  the  Christian  church  have  the  power  of  authorizing  lay  bap- 
tism. Now  if  you  will  assume  the  point,  which  he  refuses  to  deny,  there 
seems  little  difference  between  explicit  authorizing,  and  continued  and 
understood  permission.  The  whole  question  becomes  changed  from  the 
ground  of  divine  right  to  that  of  ecclesiastical  regulation.  In  this  event 
permission  seems  to  amount  to  authorizing.  It  would  be  so  in  civil 
matters  ;  why  not  in  ecclesiastical  1 

On  the  whole,  I  am  convinced  that  both  the  rubrics  and  the  practice 
are  adverse  to  re-baptization.  But  the  question  is  still  unsatisfied  in 
regard  to  what  is  to  be  done  in  certain  cases  which  may  occur.  As  to 
children  baptized  by  ministers  of  other  denominations,  it  is  not  probable 
that  there  will  be  application  made  for  the  admission  of  any  of  them  to 
our  church,  otherwise  than  through  the  rite  of  confirmation  or  that  of 
baptism  :  and  in  neither  of  these  cases  would  there  be  any  difficulty  with 
me.  But  in  the  event  of  the  presentation  of  a  child  baptized  by  our  pri- 
vate form,  and  by  any  other  than  a  lawful  minister,  I  confess  myself  as 
yet  uncertain  as  to  the  line  of  conduct  to  be  taken. 

On  consulting  Archdeacon  Sharpe,  whom  I  consider  as  the  best  writer 
within  my  knowledge  on  the  rubrics  and  the  canons  of  the  Church  of 
England,  I  find  him  aware  of  the  same  difficulty.  He  is  express  against 
re-baptization,  as  being  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  early  church,  and 
not  intended  in  his  own.  He  advises  his  clergy  to  conduct  themselves 
agreeably  to  the  directions  given  at  the  end  of  the  short  treatise,  "  Con- 
cerning the  Ceremonies  of  the  Church,"  annexed  to  the  preface  of  the 
2g 


370  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

English  liturgy.  This  is  removing  the  difficulty  from  the  officiating 
clergy  to  a  higher  authority  ;  which,  however,  ought  to  be  exercised 
agreeably  to  rule  and  principle. 

I  stated  to  you,  in  a  former  letter,  what  I  thought  a  very  serious  ob- 
jection to  Mr  Lawrence's  theory  :  its  rendering  of  the  succession  alto- 
gether uncertain,  on  account  of  the  great  number  of  consecrators  who, 
on  his  principles,  were  never  members  of  the  Christian  church.  His 
distinction  for  the  avoiding  of  the  difficulty,  in  which,  if  I  rightly  recol- 
lect, you  have  followed  him  in  your  Notes  on  Dr  Linn,  is,  I  still 
think,  untenable :  you  see  even  his  friend  Dr  Hickes  deserts  him  in  this 
matter. 

These  are  the  sentiments  which  have  occurred  to  me  on  the  subject 
of  your  book.  J  give  them  with  respect  towards  the  sentiments  of  others  ; 
and  remain  your  affectionate  brother, 

Rev.  John  H.  Hobart,  D.D.  Wm  WHITE. 

P.S.  In  regard  to  the  uncertainty  in  which  I  remain  as  to  a  particular 
point,  it  may  be  proper  to  mention  what,  on  the  whole,  I  think  the  most 
likely  to  be  the  thing  intended.  It  is,  that  persons  baptized  by  other 
than  lawful  ministers  should  not  be  presented,  but  left  in  that  state  till 
confirmation.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  the  English 
bishops,  as  expressed  by  Mr  Bingham,  in  his  epistle  dedicatory  to  his 
second  treatise.  I  am  aware  of  all  Mr  Lawrence  has  said  on  this  point : 
but  the  uniformity  of  the  practice  under  the  rubrics,  and  that  from  the 
beginning,  is  an  insuperable  objection  to  his  interpretation.  In  regard  to 
the  opinion  of  the  bishops,  what  there  may  be  in  regard  to  that  of  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  intimated  by  Mr  Lawrence,  I  know  not ;  but  cannot 
admit  the  idea,  that  what  a  man  of  Mr  Bingham's  eminence  has  affirmed 
of  a  body  in  general,  and  with  their  knowledge,  is  substantially  in- 
correct. 

P.S.  It  gave  me  great  satisfaction  to  learn  from  the  papers  that  the 
degree  of  D.D.  had  been  conferred  to  you  ;  and  I  congratulate  you  on 
the  occasion. 


Of  Dr  Hickes's  Treatise  on  the  Christian  Priesthood. 

Philadelphia,  October  30th,  1806. 
Dear  Sir : 

I  return  your  two  volumes  of  Dr  Hickes,  with  tlianks  for  the  loan  of 
them.  Indeed,  I  am  ashamed  that  1  had  been  so  long  without  having 
read  a  work  of  so  much  celebrity.  The  perusal  has  confirmed  my  opin- 
ion of  the  author,  that  he  was  a  learned,  an  ingenious,  a  sincere,  but,  in 
some  points,  a  mistaken  man ;  and  therefore  I  cannot  send  you  back  the 
work  without  intimating  to  you  the  general  tenor  of  my  objections  to 
some  leading  matters,  in  regard  to  which  I  hope  that  you  will  not  only 


APPENDIX.  371 

consider  them  fully,  before  you  finally  adopt  them,  but  be  aware  of  the 
consequences  to  which  they  lead. 

The  part  of  the  work  which  I  have  particularly  in  view,  is  that  enti- 
tled "The  Christian  Priesthood  asserted;"  the  leading  sentiment  of 
which  is,  that  a  bishop  and  a  presbyter  are  "  priests"  in  the  Levitical 
sense  of  the  words;  that  is,  each  of  them  are  "  is^suc"  or  "  Sacerdos." 
For  as  to  the  word  "  priest,"  it  is  correct  on  the  ground  of  either  sys- 
tems, being  the  word  "  ngitrfiuTe^os"  englished,  and  yet  used  as  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Greek  and  Latin  words  above  mentioned. 

Can  you  be  seriously  satisfied  with  Dr  Hickes's  conjectural  reason  for 
the  not  calling  the  Christian  clergy  isg;«,  in  the  New  Testament]  Had 
the  cause  of  the  reserve  been  such  as  Dr  Hickes  imagines — respect  to 
the  Jewish  prejudices  so  long  as  the  temple  worship  was  in  being — 
surely  the  cause  had  ceased  when  St  John  wrote  his  Gospel,  which  was 
long  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  and  there  are  many  places  in 
which  the  change  of  language  might  have  been  seasonably  insinuated. 
Supposing  a  reason  could  be  assigned,  though  I  cannot  imagine  any,  to 
this  omission  of  the  evangelist,  was  it  not  high  time  when  Barnabas, 
when  Hermas,  when  Clement,  when  Ignatius  and  when  Justin  wrote, 
that  the  new  name  should  appear]  In  the  writings  of  all  these  authors, 
there  is  reference  more  or  less  to  the  persons  vested  with  the  ministerial 
character,  but  never  are  they  designated  as  "  isgsK ;"  unless,  indeed,  like 
Daille,  we  should  so  apply  the  word  as  it  stands  in  a  particular  passage  of 
St  Ignatius,  and  which  Daille  accordingly  alleged  as  an  argument  against 
the  genuineness  of  his  epistle.  But  what  says  his  learned  vindicator. 
Bishop  Pearson  1  He  impliedly  admits  the  validity  of  the  objection,  on 
the  supposition  that  the  sense  given  by  the  objector  to  the  passage  were 
the  true  one.  But  this  he  positively,  and  with  great  reason,  denies,  as 
Dr  Hammond,  in  answer  to  another  writer,  had  done  before  him. 

I  confidently  express  my  opinion,  that  for  one  hundred  years  after  the 
destruction  of  the  temple,  the  date  to  which  the  reason  of  the  reserve  is 
limited,  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  Christian  minister's  being  called 
«'lsgsuc"or  "Sacerdos."  Although  these  words  were  introduced  not 
long  afterwards,  yet  they  were  used  sparingly  for  a  while  :  and  when  they 
became  a  part  of  the  established  phraseology  of  the  Church,  I  cannot  help 
thinking  that  it  was  accompanied  by  a  change  of  sentiment,  comprehend- 
ing the  seeds  of  the  errors,  which  became  so  deplorably  prevalent  in  the 
succeeding  ages.  So  far  was  the  change  of  language  from  being  com- 
plete when  TertuUian  wrote,  that,  having  used  the  words  "  summus  sa- 
cerdos," he  explains  himself  by  adding,  "  qui  est  episcopus,"  which 
would  have  been  unnecessary  some  time  afterwards. 

What  I  have  said  concerning  "  priest,"  may  be  applied,  in  repect  to 
the  same  tract  of  time,  to  "sacrifice;"  distinguishing  it,  however,  from 
oblation,  which  Dr  Hickes  does  not,  although  the  doing  so  is  frequent 
among  writers,  and  the  distinction  is  obvious  in  Leviticus.  If  there  be 
anj  exception  to  ray  propositions,  it  is  in  what  Dr  Hickes  has  cited  from 


372  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  a  very  few  years  within  the  period  mentioned. 
Concerning  this  venerable  author  I  have  to  remark,  that  although  his 
language,  strictly  taken,  applies  to  material  sacrifice,  yet  he  elsewhere 
speaks  as  if  there  could  be  no  Christian  sacrifice  but  that  of  the  heart. 
Hence  some  have  not  scrupled  to  accuse  him  of  inconsistency.  But  this 
I  avoid,  if  there  be  any  expedient  to  reconcile  him  to  himself:  and  this 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  well  done,  with  the  exclusion  of  material  sacri- 
fice, by  Dr  Waterland,  to  whom  I  refer  you  on  the  point.  Certain  it  is, 
that  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Irensus  and  Tertullian,  who  wrote  not  many 
years  after  Justin,  speak  very  strongly  of  there  being  no  other  sacrifices 
than  holy  dispositions  of  the  mind.  And  that  these  should  be  designated 
by  Justin,  under  the  name  of  a  material  offering  accompanying  them,  may 
be  the  easier  conceived,  as  the  like  is  done  in  Scripture,  for  instance 
where  the  alms  of  Cornelius  are  said  to  have  come  up  for  a  memorial, 
meaning  not  surely  the  alms  of  themselves,  but  the  mental  benevolence 
from  which  they  derived  their  value. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  remark  concerning  "  priest"  and  "  sacrifice" 
may  be  extended  to  the  word  "  altar."  There  are  indeed  some  passages 
in  St  Ignatius  which  speak  of  "  altar,"  in  a  form  that  looks  more  like  his 
having  a  material  altar  in  view,  than  any  passage  that  appears  in  any 
other  quarter.  They  may  bear  this  sense,  but  they  may  also  bear  the 
metaphorical,  which  I  prefer,  on  the  considerations,  that  nothing  could 
have  been  more  natural  than  for  Christians  to  take  their  metaphor  from 
the  Old  Testament  economy ;  that,  if  the  contrary  interpretation  be  cor- 
rect, Ignatius  is  the  only  instance  within  the  time  of  which  we  are  speak- 
ing of  such  a  use  of  the  word  ;  and  that  "  priest"  (iigew?)  being  correlative 
to  "  altar,"  I  cannot  otherwise  account  for  his  never  applying  of  the  for- 
mer word  to  Christian  ministers,  although  he  has  occasion  to  speak  of 
them  so  often.  I  feel  more  satisfaction  in  the  opinion  now  expressed, 
than  in  joining  with  Mosheim,  who  says,  that  "  the  question  concerning 
the  authenticity  of  Ignatius's  epistles  is  embarrassed  with  many  difficul-  , 
ties  ;"  or  with  our  judicious  Jortin,  who  "hesitates  to  affirm  that  they 
have  undergone  no  alteration  at  all." 

On  the  subject  generally,  there  has  been  a  passage  quoted  from  St 
Clement,  although  I  forget  whether  Dr  Hickes  notices  it.  To  me  the 
passage,  which  is  in  ch.  40,  41,  speaks  merely  the  language  of  compari- 
son,  applied  to  the  single  point  of  every  man's  discharging  his  official 
duty  in  the  proper  time  and  place.  On  reading  formerly  the  use  made  of 
it  by  Mr  Johnson  in  his  "  Unbloody  Sacrifice,"  I  had  the  curiosity  to  look 
into  Bona,  and  found  the  zeal  of  the  Romish  cardinal  less  in  this  respect 
than  that  of  the  Protestant  presbyter :  the  former  not  citing  Clement  to 
his  purpose,  which  might  have  been  expected,  had  the  passage  been 
applicable  in  his  opinion. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood,  in  regard  to  the  words  spoken  of,  as  if  I 
objected  altogether  to  the  use  of  them  as  applied  to  the  Christian  Church. 
There  are  so  many  circumstances  in  her  economy  analogous  to  that  of 


APPENDIX.  *      373 

tlie  law,  that  such  a  use  seems  natural  and  unexceptionable:  and  there- 
fore I  join  with  Mr  Hooker  (page  101)  in  saying :  "  the  names  them- 
selves may  be  retained  without  sin,  in  respect  of  that  proportion  which 
things  established  by  our  Saviour  have  unto  them  which  are  abrogated : 
and  so,  throughout  all  the  writings  of  the  ancient  fathers,  we  see  that 
the  words  which  were  do  continue ;  the  only  difference  is  that,  whereas 
before  they  had  a  literal,  they  now  have  a  metaphorical  use,  and  are  so 
many  notes  of  remembrance  unto  us,  that  what  they  did  signify  in  the 
letter  is  accomplished  in  the  truth."  Yes,  let  us  in  moderation  use  the 
words,  but  let  them  be  understood  in  metaphor,  meaning  this  as  opposed 
to  the  letter  and  not  to  the  reality,  which  is  not  injured  by  the  distinc- 
tion. But  when  the  words  are  taken  literally,  we  may  learn  from  the 
case  of  Dr  Hickes  to  what  mistakes  they  lead,  as  in  his  making  of  Chris- 
tian ministers,  intercessors,  mediators  and  expiators. 

In  what  sense  are  ministers  intercessors  for  their  flocks,  in  which 
these  may  not  be  intercessors  for  them  also  ]  St  Paul  in  several  places 
asks  those  whom  he  addresses  to  pray  for  him,  and  in  one  place  he  hopes, 
as  the  effect  of  their  prayers,  that  he  may  be  restored  to  them  the  sooner. 
There  is  no  notice  in  the  New  Testament  of  more  than  "  one  mediator 
between  God  and  man,"  The  Jewish  priesthood  was  different  in  this 
respect  from  the  Christian  ministry.  Under  the  law,  the  sacrifice  or  the 
oblation  was  brought  by  the  worshipper  to  the  priest,  and  though  there 
was,  doubtless,  exacted  sincerity  in  the  former,  yet  the  act  of  sacrificing 
was  performed  exclusively  by  the  latter.  Analogous  to  this  is  the  mass 
of  the  Romish  Church,  in  which  the  sacrifice  is  performed  entirely  by 
the  priest,  it  not  being  held  necessary  that  the  people  should  understand 
a  syllable  of  what  is  said.  But  what  is  there  hke  this  in  the  worship  of 
our  Church]  Or  what  in  the  remains  which  we  possess  of  the  early 
Church?  Certainly  nothing :  for  in  both  the  language  of  the  service 
shows  that  the  minister  is  the  mouth  of  the  congregation,  who  are  sup. 
posed  not  only  to  say  ♦'  amen"  at  the  conclusion,  but  to  accompany  him 
through  the  whole.  And  as  to  ministerial  expiation,  it  seems  to  me  not 
only  an  utterly  inadmissible  idea,  but  particularly  alien  from  the  service 
of  the  eucharist,  to  which  it  is  especially  applied  by  Dr  Hickes,  and  those 
who  think  with  him  :  for  it  seems  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  this  holy 
ordinance  answers  not  to  sacrifice  of  expiation,  but  to  that  of  the  peace- 
offerings,  which  are  never  said  to  make  atonement,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
suppose  the  worshipper  in  a  state  of  reconciliation.  I  forbear  to  dilate 
on  the  consequences  of  our  leading  of  tlie  people  to  believe,  that  at  every 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  we  are  making  atonement  for  sin.  No; 
let  it  be  a  commemoration  of  an  atonement  made  once  for  all:  an  inte. 
rest  in  which  is  to  be  judged  of  by  every  man,  according  to  his  conscious. 
ness  of  what  he  is  and  does. 

I  will  give  you,  as  briefly  as  I  can,  my  sense  of  the  texts  which  Dr 
Hickes  has  enlisted  in  his  service. 

His  first  is  Matthew  v.  23,  24.     Now  if  we  were  to  suppose  our  Sa- 

2  G* 


374  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

viour  speaking  in  language  accommodated  not  to  an  existing,  but  to  a 
future  economy,  which  however  seems  very  unreasonable,  yet  it  would 
be  evident  that  the  passage  is  then  inconsistent  with  Dr  Hickes's  supposed 
reserve  of  our  Saviour  on  this  subject.  For  although  Dr  Hickes  truly 
remarks,  that  the  sermon  on  the  Mount  was  to  the  Lord's  disciples,  yet, 
as  annotators  notice,  the  term  must  be  understood  with  a  latitude,  since 
it  is  said,  on  the  finishing  of  the  discourse,  "  the  multitude  were  astonish- 
ed at  his  doctrine."  By  the  disciples,  were  accordingly  meant  those 
generally  who  had  received  his  instructions.  Where  then  would  have 
been  the  wisdom  of  the  supposed  secrecy  concerning  a  new  altar  and  a 
new  priesthood  to  be  in  due  time  set  up  1 

The  same  remark  applies  to  another  of  Dr  Hickes's  texts — that  of 
Heb.  xiii.  10.  Here,  it  seems,  the  secret  was  divulged  to  the  whole 
body  of  Hebrew  Christians,  in  the  very  teeth  of  all  their  prejudices. 
But  no :  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar  spoken  of  could  not  have  been  the 
eucharist  is  evident  in  the  circumstance  that  this  has  nothing  answering 
even  in  a  spiritual  sense  to  those  sacrifices  in  which  the  bodies  of  the 
victims  "  were  burnt  without  the  camp."  But  I  refer  you  to  Dr  Ham- 
mond for  an  explanation  of  that  text. 

In  Romans  xv.  15,  16,  there  is  a  noble  figure,  the  beauty  of  which  is 
very  much  lessened  if  we  depart  from  the  usual  translation  and  interpre- 
tation, of  the  offering  being  of  the  persons  of  the  Gentiles,  and  if  we 
apply  it  to  their  eucharist  or  to  their  devotions  generally. 

In  1  Corinthians  ix.  13,  there  is  a  parallel  drawn  between  Jewish 
priests  and  Christian  ministers,  in  the  single  point  of  their  being  alike 
entitled  to  a  maintenance.  What  is  more  common  than  in  the  making 
of  a  comparison,  where  there  is  nothing  common  to  the  subjects,  except 
the  circumstance  for  which  the  comparison  is  made  1 

In  1  Corinthians  x.  20,  21,  it  is  sufficient  to  the  apostle's  reasoning  if 
the  bread  and  wine  of  the  eucharist  are  an  appointed  memorial  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  For,  then,  the  partaking  of  them  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  partaking  of  heathen  sacrifice. 

Dr  Hickes's  remarks  on  "  ttohv"  are  at  best  too  slight  a  ground  on  which 
to  erect  a  theory.  Besides,  his  explanation  of  it,  as  applied  to  the  eucha- 
rist, seems  fully  satisfied  by  the  idea  of  an  oblation  in  that  ordinance. 

He  understands  an  expression  in  1  Peter  ii.  9,  as  synonymous  with  a 
kingdom  of  priests,  or  a  priestly  government.  But  the  passage  receives 
a  different  interpretation  from  Revelations  i.  6,  which  makes  priests  in 
tlie  accommodated  sense  intended  of  all  the  people  of  the  seven  churches. 
It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  no  explaining  of  those  passages  but  in  allu- 
sion to  the  eminent  holiness  which  Christianity  exacts,  and  the  dignity 
of  character  which  it  bestows.  And  these  are  coincident  with  the  apos- 
tle's train  of  sentiment  in  the  passage  first  mentioned. 

We  have  heard  much  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  as  describing  a 
prefiguration  of  the  Christian  priesthood  in  that  of  the  law.  But  the 
analogy  there  traced  is  declared  to  be  accomplished  in  the  priesthood  of 


APPENDIX.  375 

Christ :  that  is,  in  his  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  and  his  presentation  of  it  in 
heaven.  Tlie  part  of  the  epistle  alluded  to  has  no  reference  to  the  Chris- 
tian  ministry,  unless  on  the  principle  of  a  continued  priestly  offering  of 
tlie  true  atonement,  as  is  pretended  in  the  mass.  But  this  must  be 
proved  through  some  other  medium,  for  there  is  nothing  of  it  in  the  epistle. 
Dr  Hickes  cites  Revelations  v.  8  and  viii.  3.  But  was  it  unobserved 
by  him  that  all  matters  relating  to  the  Christian  church  in  that  book  are 
figuratively  represented  under  terms  of  the  Jewish  economy  1  The  scene 
is  laid  in  the  temple ;  the  names  of  the  Israelitish  tribes  are  ascribed  to 
Christian  people ;  the  martyred  saints  repose  under  the  altar ;  and,  in 
short,  all  the  circumstances  are  accommodated  to  the  figure. 

In  regard  to  Dr  Hickes's  texts  generally,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  his 
interpretation  destroys  the  ground  of  the  reserve  supposed  by  him.  If 
his  interpretation  be  correct,  a  new  sacrifice,  a  new  priesthood,  and  a 
new  altar  were  explicitly  declared,  and  there  was  no  reason  against  mak- 
ing  the  names  correspond  with  the  subjects.  But  if  that  interpretation 
be  wrong,  I  appeal  to  you  whether,  at  least  after  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem,  there  might  not  be  expected  from  an  apostle  or  some  apostolic 
man— I  need  not  say  an  explicit  declaration,  but  at  least  an  intimation  of 
the  intended  change,  and  that  it  should  not  have  been  left  to  be  discov- 
ered by  human  ingenuity  after  the  lapse  of  above  a  century. 

And  let  me  remark  on  what  different  ground  the  question  stands  from 
that  between  Episcopacy  and  Presbytery.  According  to  the  pretensions 
of  the  latter,  a  change  took  place  all  at  once  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
affecting  rights  and  duties  in  daily  exercise,  and  all  without  opposition  or 
even  historic  notice.  Such  a  change  could  never  have  happened  among 
mankind,  constituted  as  we  see  them.  But  it  is  otherwise  in  regard  to 
new  names,  easily  reconciled  by  analogy,  perhaps  introduced  by  writers 
of  celebrity,  by  them  used  at  first  metaphorically  and  sparingly,  with  an 
intermixture  of  the  old;  the  change  at  the  same  time  wearing  the  spe- 
cious appearance  of  a  tendency  to  the  increase  of  piety  ;  however  after- 
wards made  the  instrument  of  the  most  inordinate  ambition. 

In  all  here  said,  I  have  been  aware  of  the  solemn  caution  given  by  Dr 
Hickes  to  Christian  ministers  not  to  lessen  the  dignity  of  their  callino-. 
But  if  it  is  the  scriptural  definition  of  the  Jewish  high  priest,  that  he  was 
"ordained  from  among  men  for  things  pertaining  to  God,"  is  it  less  hon- 
ourable, as  Dr  Outram  is  represented  by  Dr  Hickes  saying  of  the  Chris- 
tian minister,  that  he  is  "  ordained  by  God  for  things  pertaining  to  men?" 
And  is  not  the  superiority  of  the  ministry  of  the  latter,  in  comparison 
of  that  of  the  former,  sufficiently  supported  by  the  comparative  merits  of 
their  respective  dispensations  ? 

When  Dr  Hickes  pronounced  it  disgraceful  in  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England  to  reject  priesthood,  sacrifice  and  altar,  in  the  strict  and  pro- 
per sense,  why  did  he  not  criminate  the  Church  herself]  That  neither 
sacrifice  nor  altar  is  found  in  her  liturgy  is  evident.  And  as  to  the  word 
"priest,"  that  she  considers  it  as  "^rgscr^^Tsgo?,"  with  an  English  termi- 


376  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

nation,  appears  in  the  circumstance,  that  in  the  Latin  Prayer  Book,  which 
is  of  equal  authority  with  the  English  ;  "  Priest"  is  not  "  Sacerdos,"  but 
Presbyter ;  this,  even  in  the  sacramental  service,  which  in  the  estima- 
tion of  Dr  Hickes  and  those  who  think  with  him,  is  in  the  most  eminent 
degree  sacerdotal. 

I  have  already  intimated  that  I  distinguish  between  sacrifice  and  obla- 
tion. And,  therefore,  I  never  could  perceive  any  reason  in  the  objection 
which  some  have  made  to  that  part  of  our  consecration  of  the  elements, 
in  which  we  offer  them  to  the  Father,  as  typical  of  his  blessed  Son's  body 
and  blood.  On  this  point  of  oblation,  the  testimony  of  the  apostolic 
Clement  is  express ;  and  it  seems  involved  in  the  act  of  our  Saviour, 
when,  in  the  original  institution,  he  invoked  a  blessing  on  the  elements, 
in  which  act  there  must  have  been  a  religious  presentation  of  them. 

To  me,  indeed,  it  seems  surprising,  that  the  very  pains  which  some 
authors  have  taken  to  show  the  eucharist  answerable  to  the  nnJD  under 
the  law,  did  not  show  at  the  same  time  that  it  cannot  answer  to  the 
nDI  of  the  same  economy,  which  always  involved  the  taking  of  animal 
life.  And  there  is  a  consideration  which  should  call  our  attention  to  the 
distinction.  It  is  the  countenance  which  may  be  given  by  the  latter  word 
to  the  gross  ideas  founded  on  our  Saviour's  calling  the  bread  and  wine 
his  body  and  blood.  From  the  conjunction  of  this  error,  with  that  of 
considering  the  eucharistic  service  a  sacrifice,  there  seems  to  me  to  arise, 
by  a  natural  train  of  sentiment,  the  monstrous  opinion  of  the  propitiatory 
sacrifice  of  the  mass. 

I  beg  you  to  remark,  in  your  reading,  how  authors  puzzle  themselves 
to  frame  a  definition  of  sacrifice  after  they  have  lost  sight  of  that  essen- 
tial property  of  it— the  death  of  the  victim.  Mr  Johnson  has  recited  a 
variety  of  definitions,  all  of  which  seem  grounded  on  no  other  circum- 
stances than  their  suiting  the  theories  of  their  respective  authors. 
Bishop  Pearce  says  he  has  seen  "  almost  hundreds  of  definitions,"  and, 
after  all,  I  am  sorry  to  say  of  this  ingenious  prelate,  that  he  seems  to  me 
to  have  chosen  or  made  one  principally  accommodated  to  a  favourite 
point  with  him— the  excluding  of  the  passover  from  the  account  of 
sacrifice. 

When  I  require  the  death  of  the  victim  as  essential  to  this  rite,  I  am 
not  ignorant  of  the  criticisms  on  the  Greek  word  "  Bvcria.."  But  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  My  stress  is  on  the  Hebrew  word,  which  con- 
fessedly involves  slaughter.  And  besides,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
original  application  of  the  Greek  word  to  inanimate  (as  it  is  said)  as  well 
as  to  animate  objects,  I  believe  that,  when  the  seventy  adopted  it  for  the 
rendering  of  the  Hebrew  word,  it  had  become  appropriate  to  the  sacri- 
fice of  animals. 

As  to  Dr  Hickes's  long  definition,  it  seems  to  me  evidently  drawn  from 
the  contemplation  of  his  own  theory  rather  than  having  any  correspon- 
dency with  the  institution  of  sacrifice  in  Leviticus.  I  admit  Dr  Hickes's 
alleged  difficulty  of  an  exact  definition.     But  when  we  perceive  a  cir- 


APPENDIX.  377 

cumstance  applying  to  all  sacrifice,  and  without  which  there  can  be  no 
sacrifice,  all  the  purposes  of  a  definition  may  be  answered. 

Before  I  finish  let  rae  request  you  to  be  assured  that,  when  I  speak  so 
freely  of  great  names,  it  is  with  a  sense  of  my  own  weakness,  notwith- 
standing which  it  is  incumbent  on  me,  in  respect  to  subjects  of  difference 
between  men  of  the  same  grade  of  talents  and  learning,  to  make  an  opi- 
nion for  myself. 

In  what  I  have  written,  my  purpose  is  to  bring  some  little  aid  to  your 
own  reflections.  And  so,  committing  myself  to  your  candour  and  implor- 
ing the  divine  benediction  on  your  inquiries,  I  remain  your  affectionate 
friend  and  brother, 

Rev.  John  Hobart,  D.D.,  New  York.  Wm  WHITE. 


Of  the  same  Work  of  Dr  Hickes,  and  Johnson's  Unbloody  Sacrifice. 

Philadelphia,  June  15,  1807. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir, 

When  I  wrote  my  letter  of  the  30th  of  October,  I  made  a  memoran- 
dum of  a  few  particulars  connected  with  the  subject  of  it,  on  which  I 
wished  to  express  my  opinion  ;  but  delayed  this,  because  of  engagements 
which  then  pressed.  Your  letter,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  mine, 
intimated  that  you  laid  some  stress  on  tlie  arguments  adduced  in  it. 
This  aided  my  determination  to  take  up  the  subject  again.  It  has,  how- 
ever, been  prevented  by  avocations  succeeding  upon  one  another :  but 
now,  expecting  a  favourable  opportunity  within  these  few  days,  I  resume 
the  correspondence. 

The  points  which  I  propose  to  handle  are  these  :  Is  there  in  the  eu- 
charist  a  sacrifice  1  If  not,  is  there  a  feast  on  sacrifice  1  And  if 
neither,  what  is  the  import  of  its  being  the  commemoration  of  a  sac- 
rifice 1 

The  introducing  of  the  third  question  shows  that  I  answer  the  first 
and  the  second  in  the  negative :  and  in  regard  to  the  first,  I  consider  it 
as  no  small  objection  to  the  doctrine  of  the  eucharistic  sacrifice,  in  the 
strict  and  proper  sense,  that  they  who  affirm  it  find  so  great  difficulty  in 
agreeing  in  a  definition  of  the  word.  If  we  look  at  the  different  defini- 
tions of  learned  men,  as  cited  by  Mr  Johnson  in  his  "Unbloody  Sacri- 
fice," they  are  clearly  arbitrary.  So  is  his  own  ;  and  in  order  to  prove 
this,  I  will  detain  you  with  an  attention  to  its  contents. 

His  first  descriptive  circumstance  of  a  sacrifice  is  its  being  some  ma- 
terial thing,  animate  or  inanimate,  offered  to  God.  Here  I  recur  to  the 
principles  of  my  former  letter ;  on  the  ground  of  which  I  still  venture  to 
express  my  persuasion  that  the  Hebrew  word  denoting  sacrifice  means 
animal  sacrifice  only.  Mr  Johnson  indeed  mentions  the  frequent  use  of 
"  Bua-ict"  by  the  seventy  ;  and  he  wishes  that  our  translators  had  fol- 
lowed their  example,  putting  "sacrifice"  for  their  "cujr/at;"  it  being  to 


378  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  AVHITE. 

be  presumed  that  their  knowledge  both  of  Hebrew  and  of  Greek  was 
adequate  to  tlie  occasion.  But  it  is  easy  to  account  for  their  conduct  in 
this  matter,  without  questioning  their  skill  in  either  language.  Mr 
Johnson  himself  shows,  and  Potter's  Antiquities,  to  which  he  refers, 
will  vouch  for  him,  that  the  word  *'  6u»"  had  anciently  a  more  exten- 
sive signification  than  that  of  slaughter.  I  presume  that  it  had  not  be- 
come limited  to  this  when  the  seventy  translated,  although  T  have  inad- 
vertently and  unnecessarily  expressed  the  opposite  idea  in  my  former 
letter.  The  error  is  of  no  consequence  as  to  the  matter  there  treated  of ; 
but  in  writing  I  forgot  the  application  of  the  word  to  inanimate  offering 
in  the  Septuagint,  which  is  indeed  very  frequent. 

Mr  Johnson's  second  circumstance  is  "  for  the  acknowledging  the  do- 
minion and  otlier  attributes  of  God,  or  for  procuring  divine  blessings, 
especially  remission  of  sins."  If  this  mean  no  more  than  that  in  the 
eucharist  the  devout  worshipper  has  a  view  to  both  these  objects,  it  is 
certainly  correct :  but  it  is  what  the  ordinance  possesses  in  common 
with  other  acts  of  homage,  such  as  should  be  offered  daily. 

The  third  circumstance  is  that  of  "  a  proper  altar  ;"  but  in  unfolding 
the  sentiment  he  has  said  more  against  than  in  favour  of  it  as  involved 
in  the  idea  of  sacrifice. 

His  fourth  is  "  by  a  proper  officer  and  with  agreeable  rites ;"  certainly 
fit  attendants  on  all  public  exercises  of  devotion  ;  yet  no  further  entering 
into  the  idea  of  all  sacrifices  than  in  the  sense  in  which  any  head  of  a 
family  may  be  called  a  proper  officer,  and  the  most  simple  expression  of 
devout  affection  an  agreeable  rite. 

His  last  circumstance,  that  of  consumption,  seems  to  have  been  inva- 
riably a  property  of  sacrifice,  but  cannot  be  said  to  be  confined  to  it.  I 
believe  our  best  writers  consider  the  red  heifer  in  Numbers,  xix.  2,  as 
not  a  sacrifice. 

You  may  see  what  arbitrary  accounts  of  the  subject  are  the  conse- 
quence of  losing  sight  of  the  true  discriminating  circumstance — that  of 
animal  slaughter  in  a  divinely  instituted  act  of  devotion.  But  let  the 
attention  be  confined  to  this,  and  you  have  a  clear  view  of  the  nature  of 
an  institution  coeval  with  our  race  ;  but  of  which  no  rational  account 
can  be  given,  except  as  prefigurative  of  the  great  sacrifice  of  the  cross  ; 
which  dispenses  with  every  other,  although  to  be  itself  commemorated  by 
a  spiritual  sacrifice  to  the  end  of  time. 

Before  my  sentiments  on  the  present  subject  became  settled,  as  I  trust 
they  have  been  these  many  years,  with  little  probability  of  change,  the  only 
authority  adduced  from  Scripture  which  appeared  to  me  to  have  weight 
in  favour  of  the  doctrine  which  I  here  reject,  is  the  well  known  passage 
in  the  10th  chapter  of  the  1st  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It  appeared 
to  me  for  some  time  that,  as  in  the  parallel  drawn,  there  was  a  real  sac- 
rifice of  the  heathen  and  a  real  sacrifice  of  the  Jews,  so  there  was  appa- 
rent ground  for  the  affirming  of  a  real  sacrifice  in  the  eucharist.  But 
this  difficulty  yielded  to  the  consideration  that  nothing  is  more  common 


APPENDIX.  379 

than  for  a  matter  to  be  predicable,  alike  of  the  thing  signified  and  of  its 
sign.  A  dishonour  to  a  picture  may  extend  in  an  equal  degree  to  the 
person  whom  it  represents  ;  and  the  slighting  of  a  token  may  be  hostile 
to  the  friendship  of  which  it  was  designed  to  be  the  remembrancer.  In 
like  ma.nner  let  it  be  admitted  that  the  death  of  Christ  is  a  sacrifice  in 
the  strict  and  proper  meaning  of  the  word  ;  and  that  through  the  merits 
of  this  sacrifice  the  body  of  his  professing  followers  are  related  to  him 
and  to  one  another.  Let  it  be  further  admitted  that  the  elements  of 
bread  and  wine  are  the  appointed  figure  of  his  body  and  of  his  blood  ; 
and  that  by  partaking  of  these  symbols  we  recognize  our  relation  to  him 
and  our  common  tie  among  ourselves :  and  immediately  the  figurative 
sacrifice  of  Christians  admits  of  a  comparison  with  the  real  sacrifices  of 
the  heathen  as  to  the  purpose  in  contemplation  of  the  apostle — the  dis- 
suading from  being  partakers  of  the  heathen  sacrifices  ;  to  which  there 
was  a  contrariety  in  the  figurative  sacrifice  of  the  gospel,  because  of 
there  being  a  contrariety  in  the  real  sacrifice  represented  by  it. 

But  if  it  should  be  granted  to  me  that  the  passage  referred  to  is  the 
only  one  which  can  be  said  to  be  explicit  to  the  point  of  sacrifice ;  still  I 
may  be  told  that  there  are  other  passages  from  which  we  may  deduce 
the  doctrine  ;  and  for  the  application  of  those  passages  I  may  be  referred 
to  the  decision  of  the  fathers,  from  whose  works  very  many  authorities 
have  been  cited.  Here  I  make  a  distinction  between  the  earlier  and  the 
later  fathers  ;  and  am  astonished  at  the  manner  in  which  they  are  cited  by 
Mr  Johnson  and  others,  as  if  they  were  of  equal  authority  in  religious  con- 
troversy. If  our  church  is  right  in  the  decision  which  she  makes,  with 
such  clear  evidence  of  her  sense  of  its  importance,  that  Scripture  is  the 
only  rule  of  faith,  the  ground  on  which  the  fathers  can  be  at  all  appealed 
to,  is  as  witnesses  of  the  faith  transmitted  to  them  from  the  beginning ; 
and  that  their  testimony,  on  the  general  principles  of  evidence,  may 
very  much  assist  in  determining  the  sense  of  Scripture,  is  what  I  am 
very  far  from  being  disposed  to  deny.  But  it  must  be  confessed  that  in 
this  point  of  view  the  effect  of  the  testimony  depends  on  the  distance 
from  the  source  ;  and  it  is  a  mistake  to  put  a  father  of  the  fourth  century 
on  a  level  with  one  of  the  second.  To  illustrate  this  by  an  allusion  to 
civil  matters  :  suppose  there  were  a  question  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
a  law  enacted  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  it  were 
made  appear  that  one  sense  were  more  favoured  than  another  by  the 
opinion  of  learned  counsel,  and  by  the  practice  of  the  courts  in  the  reign 
of  James  the  first,  and  this  were  said  to  betlie  doctrine  of  the  intervening 
time,  it  is  a  consideration  which  would  have  weight  with  every  mind ; 
while  much  less  would  be  allowed  to  the  opinion  and  the  practice  of  the 
present  day.  So  in  bringing  apostolic  faith  and  practice  to  the  standard 
of  the  current  sense  of  the  succeeding  times,  I  perceive  a  clear  distinc- 
tion between  the  opinions  of  a  Clement,  an  Ignatius,  an  Irenseus  and  a 
Justin,  and  those  of  a  Chrysostom,  a  Cyril  and  an  Austin. 

Even  if  the  opinion  of  early  writers  should,  as  such  and  distinct  from 


380  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

testimony,  be  thought  to  have  any  weight,  it  ought  surely  to  be  confined 
to  the  times  in  which  not  a  single  considerable  error  had  pervaded  the 
Christian  church  in  general.  Now,  when  you  come  down  to  the  fourth 
century,  I  think  I  can  point  out  at  least  two  errors,  which  had  a  general 
sway  at  an  early  period  of  it ;  of  which  one  is  the  lawfulness  of  persecu- 
tion,  and  the  other  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy.  On  the  former  subject  I 
distinguish  between  the  not  admitting  to  a  share  of  power,  and  the  in- 
flicting of  pains  and  penalties.  The  former  may,  under  some  circum- 
stances, be  lawful  and  even  necessary  ;  but  I  contend,  and  think  you 
will  agree  with  me,  that  the  latter  is  in  contrariety  to  the  gospel  ;  and 
yet  that  it  was  favoured  by  the  general  sense  of  the  Christian  church 
long  before  the  middle  of  fourth  century.  On  the  other  subject  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  they  as  yet  obliged  the  clergy  to  put  away  their  wives  ; 
and  we  have  an  evidence  to  the  contrary  in  the  celebrated  story  of 
Paphnutius  at  the  council  of  Nice.  But  even  the  story  implies,  and 
other  incidents  prove  that  the  church  had  adopted  those  sentiments  con- 
cerning marriage  which  ended  soon  afterwards  in  prohibiting  it  to  the 
priesthood.  Now  you  know  we  Protestants  consider  this  as  one  of  the 
tokens  of  apostacy  prophesied  in  Scripture. 

These  remarks  seem  to  me  to  assist  in  estimating  the  sense  of  the 
fathers  of  different  periods.  In  regard  to  those  of  the  first  two  or  three 
centuries,  I  am  particularly  aware  of  what  has  been  said  by  Justin,  by  Ire- 
nfEus  and  by  Tertullian.  But  1  find  nothing  which  may  not  be  brought  under 
the  idea  of  oblation,  that  is,  the  commemorative  presentation  of  the 
elements;  or  wherein  the  application  of  the  word  "sacrifice"  (Sva-ia) 
may  not  fairly  be  understood  of  them,  as  in  the  New  Testament  of  alms. 
Besides,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Justin  should  be  found  giving  to  the 
word  the  same  extensive  signification  which  it  bore  in  the  Greek 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  in  daily  use  ;  and  there  standing  for  different 
subjects  denoted  in  the  Hebrew  by  different  words.  I  beg  you  to  con- 
sider further  how  difficult  it  has  been  found  by  the  writers  from  whom  I 
dissent  to  bend  to  their  system  what  Barnabas  has  said  concerning  the 
abolishing  of  the  legal  sacrifices,  to  make  way  for  "  a  human  oblation  ;" 
which  he  defines  to  be  "  an  humble  and  a  contrite  heart ;"  in  addition 
to  this  the  circumstance  in  the  oblation  spoken  of  by  Clement,  that  they 
were  such  even  before  consecration,  which  seems  to  imply  a  reference 
to  devotion  as  that  which  principally  constituted  them  an  offering  ;  and 
further,  the  affirmation  of  Justin  that  "  the  only  perfect  and  acceptable 
sacrifices  are  prayers  and  thanksgivings  ;"  with  expressions  to  the  same 
effect  in  Irenfpus  and  several  others.  On  these  authorities  I  might  be 
tempted  to  enlarge  for  their  elucidation,  were  it  not  that  I  can  more 
expeditiously  refer  you  to  Dr  Waterland's  treatise  on  the  eucharist,  in 
which  you  will  find  the  above  mentioned  fathers  cleared  from  the  suppo- 
sition of  their  having  asserted  a  material  sacrifice. 

In  regard  to  later  eclesiastical  writers,  although  I  lay  less  stress  on 
their  opinions ;  yet  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  what  they  have 


APPENDIX.  381 

said  rhetorically  is  often  improperly  quoted,  to  the  neglect  of  passages  in 
which  a  different  sense  is  spoken.  No  father  has  delivered  himself 
more  rhetorically  than  Chrysostom,  as  where  he  talks  of  "the  tremen- 
dous sacrifice  lying  on  the  altar ;"  and  yet,  intending  to  distinguish  be- 
tween  the  Jewish  system  and  the  Christian,  he  says,  "  we  do  not  offer 
another  sacrifice,  but  always  the  same,  or  rather  we  perform  a  me- 
morial." 

I  began  with  remarking  how  difficult  certain  writers  had  found  it  to 
agree  among  themselves  in  a  definition  of  sacrifice.  On  this  account, 
there  was  a  time  when  I  was  disposed  to  look  on  the  present  question  as 
merely  one  of  words.  But  when  I  came  to  consider  maturely  the  opi- 
nions which  go  along  with  the  affirmative  side  of  the  question,  in  the 
writings  of  those  who  hold  it ;  and  when  I  perceived,  as  I  thought,  a  train 
of  sentiment  which,  by  a  consistent  progression,  ended  in  the  worst  of 
all  the  bad  tenets  of  Roman  Catholic  superstition,  I  became  uneasy  at 
the  appearance  in  our  church  of  any  of  that  leaven  which  has  shown 
itself  capable  of  leavening  the  whole  lump.  For  this  reason  I  the  more 
venerate  the  wisdom  of  our  reformers  in  their  having  been  so  careful  to 
clear  our  system  of  every  thing  which  participated  of  the  alarming  senti- 
ment. In  my  former  letter  I  noticed  instances  of  this  in  the  Latin 
prayer  book,  in  their  carefully  substituting  of  "presbyter"  for  "  sacer- 
dos,"  and  of  "  table"  for  "  altar."  I  will  now  give  you  another  instance 
from  the  homily  on  the  sacrament,  in  which  we  are  charged  to  "  take 
heed  lest  of  the  memory  it  be  made  a  sacrifice."  To  the  best  of  my 
recollection  this  continued  a  universal  sentiment  to  the  time  of  Arch- 
bishop Laud.  I  am  aware  that  ever  since  his  day  there  have  been  a 
proportion  of  the  English  clergy  who  have  gone  into  the  sentiment ;  but 
am  mistaken  if  it  have  at  any  period  pervaded  the  body,  and  especially 
if  it  have  been  ever  prevalent  on  the  episcopal  bench.  I  am  sorry  to 
find  it  pressed  of  late  by  some  writers  ;  and,  among  them,  am  particu- 
larly sorry  that  Mr  Daubeny,  whom  I  much  admire  in  some  respects, 
sliould  be  one.  In  regard  to  our  own  church  I  cannot  help  anticipating 
bad  consequences  from  the  exploded  error,  as  I  consider  it,  being  taken 
up  by  any  of  our  clergy.  For  the  error  does  not  end  in  itself,  but  has 
sundry  kindred  errors,  some  of  which  I  proceed  to  specify. 

One  of  them  is  the  remission  of  sins,  as  an  end  of  the  celebration  of 
the  eucharist.  That  the  general  design  of  the  Gospel  is  to  make  known 
the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  that  the  ministry  are  clothed  with  power  and 
authority  to  declare  it,  are  truths  not  to  be  denied.  But  I  do  not  per- 
ceive how  this  applies  to  the  sacrament  any  more  than  to  ordinary  occa- 
sions of  public  worship,  when  we  confess  our  sins  and  listen  to  the 
authoritative  absolution.  What  occasion  for  this  if  there  be  a  more 
solemn  institution  for  the  accomplishing  of  the  end  1  In  the  Jewish 
religion  there  was  no  such  ordinary  and  constant  provision  for  the 
relieving  of  the  troubled  conscience  of  the  penitent.  He  had  no  resource 
but  the  appointed  sacrifice  ;  and  if  the  eucliarist  be  a  sacrifice  in  the 


382  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

sense  of  his,  it  seems  to  make  superfluous  every  other  instrument  of 
pardon. 

Another  doctrine  connected  with  it  is  that  of  a  foederal  rite,  holding 
out  the  idea  that  every  celebration  is  a  covenanting  anew.  But  on  this 
f  content  myself  with  referring  you  to  Bishop  Pearce,  by  whom  it  has 
been,  as  I  think,  satisfactorily  confuted. 

I  might  bring  up  to  you  again  all  those  dangerous  sentiments,  as  I 
consider  them,  of  Dr  Hickes,  which  I  stated  in  my  former  letter;  as, 
that  ministers  are  mediators  and  intercessors  for  the  people.  But  there 
strikes  my  mind  with  the  most  force,  on  the  score  of  danger,  that  in 
consequence  of  the  metaphysical  words  of  the  institution  many  express 
themselves  so  obscurely  concerning  the  elements,  as  shows  that  they 
have  confused  notions  of  something  more  than  what  the  senses  perceive 
of  mere  bread  and  wine.  Now  you  no  sooner  throw  in  among  their 
indistinct  conceptions  the  notion  of  a  material  sacrifice,  than  it  looks  so 
much  like  that  of  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  dead  and  living,  as  must 
be  a  preparation  of  the  mind  for  the  error  in  all  its  absurdity  and  mis- 
chievous tendency. 

Had  I  intended  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject,  I  have  written  far  too 
little  ;  but  1  fear,  considering  my  plan,  far  too  much,  and  shall  therefore 
be  brief  on  the  next  question — of  a  feast  on  sacrifice. 

I  am  aware  how  very  eminent  the  characters  are  who  have  patronized 
the  affirmative  of  the  question  ;  and  I  flatter  myself  that  1  differ  from 
tliem  in  language  only.  That  the  eucharist  resembles  the  peace  offer- 
ings, and  not  the  sin  ofiferings  of  the  Jews,  I  am  satisfied  ;  and  it  makes 
a  considerable  part  of  the  ground  on  which  I  reject  the  opinions  before 
spoken  of  Now  this  distinction  enters  into  the  whole  argument  of  a 
feast  on  sacrifice  :  and  although  I  do  not  perceive  any  material  error 
resulting  from  it,  yet  I  am  dissatisfied  with  the  mode  of  stating  the  sub- 
ject ;  because  it  seems  to  make  an  unnatural  conjunction  of  literal  lan- 
guage with  the  figurative.  In  this  opinion  the  sacrifice  is  of  the  real 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  upon  the  cross  :  but  the  partaking  of  the  sacri- 
fice is  spiritual  manducation,  that  is,  the  due  contemplation  of  the  sub- 
ject with  suitable  affections  ;  for  I  never  could  perceive  what  else  this 
could  mean. 

I  have  an  ingenious  treatise  on  the  Lord's  supper,  written  by  Dr  Bell, 
prebendary  of  Westminster  ;  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  remember  to 
have  dined  at  the  Bishop  of  Landaff"'s  table,  Dr  Bell  attacks  the  doc- 
trine of  a  feast  on  sacrifice  on  another  ground  ;  which  requires  the  sup- 
position that  even  the  sacrifices  of  the  peace  offerings  were  for  the 
purpose  of  expiation.  This  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  them,  which 
I  have  derived  from  the  best  authorities,  and  which  seem  to  me  agree- 
able to  the  injunctions  in  Leviticus.  I  wish  Dr  Bell  had  been  more 
full  on  this  point :  but  not  perceiving  the  correctness  of  what  he  says 
on  it,  I  must  object  to  the  doctrine  on  my  own  principles,  and  not  on 
his. 


APPENDIX.  383 

You  see  I  am  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  resting  the  eucharist  on  the 
mere  ground  of  a  memorial.  I  am  aware  that  by  this  I  subject  myself  to 
the  censure  of  Mr  Daubeny  and  others ;  who  accuse  me  of  narrowing 
the  subject  to  the  mere  memory  of  a  deceased  friend.  Before  1  either 
deny  the  charge  or  acknowledge  any  reproach  in  it,  I  must  demand  an 
explanation  of  the  terms.  Suppose  I  were  told  that  you  had  introduced 
into  your  family  the  stated  celebration  of  the  memory  of  a  friend,  che- 
rished by  you  with  affection,  which  you  took  this  way  of  expressing  and 
perpetuating.  From  this  I  should  learn  no  more  of  the  motive  of  your 
proceeding  than  extraordinary  regard.  But  if  it  were  in  consideration 
of  some  signal  benefit,  I  should  be  sensible  that  this  might  have  been  far 
short  of  any  thing  involving  life  and  fortune.  But  suppose  me  further 
informed  that  the  favour  consisted  in  dying  that  you  and  your  whole 
family  might  live,  and  this  without  your  having  merited  any  favour  at 
his  hands,  and  even  under  the  weight  of  great  demerit ;  and  then  I  per- 
ceive that  it  is  a  case  which,  beyond  any  other  that  concerns  your  tem- 
porary being,  challenges  the  unbounded  love  of  you  and  yours.  Now 
apply  this  to  the  subject,  and  you  will  perceive  that  the  doctrine  of  a 
mere  memorial  gives  no  such  degrading  representation  as  is  supposed 
in  the  language  which  has  been  bestowed  on  it. 

And  yet  the  comparison  does  not  reach  all  the  points  comprehended 
in  the  sacramental  commemoration.  For  the  very  circumstance  that 
the  eucharist  is  a  memorial,  makes  it  "  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an 
inward  and  spiritual  grace."  The  grace  is  involved  in  the  subject  com- 
memorated, and  therefore  must  be  imparted  by  the  mean  of  the  celebra- 
tion. Not  only  so,  the  promises  of  God  are  hereby  visibly  signed  and 
sealed.  For  what  less  is  the  matter  commemorated  than  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  "  a  full,  perfect  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  propitiation  and  satis^ 
faction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  On  what  are  the  divine  pro- 
mises founded,  but  on  the  merits  of  this  transaction  1  And  how  then 
can  it  be  celebrated  by  an  external,  appointed  rite,  without  this  rite's 
being  significant  of  promises  resting  on  a  truth  which  cannot  fail? 

Bishop  Hoadly  has  been  censured  for  giving  a  diminishing  representa- 
tion of  the  ordinance  in  question,  in  his  "  Plain  Account  of  the  Lord's 
Supper;"  and  the  same  objection  has  been  made  to  Dr  Bell.  But  it  ap- 
pears to  me  that  the  ground  they  have  given  for  the  charge  is  their  neg- 
lecting a  view  of  the  important  truths  comprehended  in  the  idea  of  a 
memorial.  Whether  their  faith  were  imperfect,  in  this  respect,  is  more 
than  I  shall  venture  to  decide  on.  But  if  it  were,  or  if  their  reserve  were 
mere  omission  ;  in  either  case  there  is  a  fallacy  in  ascribing  to  their  doc- 
trine of  the  sacrament  that  which  may  more  properly  be  ascribed  to  their 
inattention  to  the  truths  which  the  sacrament  was  intended  to  suggest. 

Let  the  decisions  and  the  services  of  our  Church  be  carefully  attended 
to,  with  the  view  of  selecting  every  sentiment  and  every  expression  which 
can  be  thought  to  ascribe  due  importance  to  the  holy  institution,  and  to 
its  beneficial  tendency :  and  then,  if  there  should  be  any  thing  not  clearly 


384  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

involved  in  or  deducible  from  the  idea  of  a  memorial,  I  shall  at  least 
think  myself  deficient  in  the  character  of  a  minister  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  But  if  nothing  further  should  be  found,  I  claim  the  ackno\V- 
ledgement  that  what  is  believed  beyond  it  should  be  held  and  taught  with 
great  modesty  and  forbearance. 

When  I  look  back  to  the  earlier  times  of  the  Church,  I  think  T  per- 
ceive the  gradual  manner,  in  which  there  were  introduced  the  notions  of 
sacrifice,  priest  and  altar,  with  the  kindred  notion  of  the  succession  of 
the  Christian  clergy  to  the  legal  priesthood,  and  of  this  being  an  intended 
figure  of  the  other.  No  doubt  there  was  an  unperceived  bias  to  this  in 
the  minds  of  holy  men,  on  account  of  the  uses  which  they  thought  con- 
nected with  it.  Bnt  whatever  temporary  uses  there  may  have  been,  the 
abuses,  as  a  natural  result,  have  been  enormous  and  prominent ;  and  this 
should  be  a  warning  to  us,  who  have  happily  escaped  the  evil,  by  a  refor- 
mation which  would  never  have  been  achieved,  unless  by  men,  who  per- 
ceived not  only  existing  errors,  but  the  unsoundness  of  the  foundation  on 
which  they  stood. 

What  the  sense  of  the  reformers  was,  I  consider  as  clear  as  it  could 
have  been  made,  in  what  my  former  letter  stated  to  you,  concerning  the 
words  "/sgsy?,"  "  sacerdos"  and  "  presbyter,"  and  I  revert  to  it  merely 
to  mention  an  idea  that  lately  occurred  to  me,  on  accidentally  casting  my 
eye  over  a  passage  from  Dr  Hickes,  quoted  with  approbation  by  Mr  Dau- 
beny,  in  the  312th  page  of  his  2d  volume.  What  could  Dr  H.,  and  what 
could  Mr  D.,  thought  I,  have  made  of  the  argument  of  this  passage,  if  it 
had  been  written  in  Latin]  They  surely  would  not,  in  defiance  of  the 
sense  of  their  church,  have  given  "  sacerdos"  for  "priest;"  and  yet  had 
they,  wit'j  the  church,  have  taken  the  word  "  presbyter,"  the  whole  pas- 
sage would  have  been  nonsense.  Is  it  not  evident,  that,  so  far  as  our 
system  is  concerned,  gentlemen  avail  themselves  of  the  word  "  priest"  in 
its  application  to  two  different  characters  1  Although,  therefore,  I  con- 
sider our  use  of  the  English  word  justifiable  by  its  etymology,  yet  I  can- 
not but  think,  with  Mr  Hooker  (book  5,  sect.  78),  that  the  word  presby- 
ter is  "  more  fit,  and,  in  propriety  of  speech,  more  agreeable  than  priest, 
with  the  whole  drift  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ ;"  still,  however,  ac- 
knowledging, with  the  same  extraordinary  man,  that,  "  as  for  the  people, 
when  they  hear  the  name,  it  draweth  no  more  their  minds  to  any  cogita- 
tion of  sacrifice,  than  the  name  of  a  senator  or  of  an  alderman  causeth 
them  to  think  upon  old  age,  or  to  imagine  that  every  one  so  termed  must 
needs  be  ancient,  because  years  were  respected,  in  the  first  nomination 
of  both." 

If  I  were  to  give  vent  to  the  various  considerations  which  occur  to  my 
mind,  according  to  the  various  points  of  view  in  which  the  subject  may 
be  placed,  my  letter  would  swell  beyond  all  reasonable  bounds.  I  there- 
fore give  over,  and  subscribe  myself. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

Wm  WHITE. 


APPENDIX.  385 

P.S.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  understood  that  I  object  to  the  words  sacri- 
fice and  altar,  as  applied  figuratively  to  ecclesiastical  subjects.  This 
may  often  be  done  with  great  propriety  and  beauty,  without  danger  of 
our  being  misunderstood.  In  regard  to  both  words,  the  Scriptures  have 
set  us  the  example. 


Of  the  last  three  Books  of  Hooker. 

Philadelphia,  March  19,  1807. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

I  received,  this  day,  yours  of  yesterday,  and,  agreeably  to  your  desire, 
1  immediately  answer. 

Not  being  possessed  of  any  information  beyond  what  is  prefixed  to  Mr 
Hooker's  books,  I  can  give  you  only  ray  reasonings  on  the  subject. 

First,  I  consider,  as  an  ascertained  fact,  that  the  last  three  books,  as 
finished  by  that  great  man,  were  lost,  probably  in  the  manner  related  by 
his  Jezebel  of  a  wife  ;  and  it  is  a  great  loss,  if  it  were  only  for  the  want, 
evidently  discernible,  of  the  last  polish  of  the  accomplished  draftsman. 

Secondly,  There  seems  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  imperfect  drafts 
were  obtained  by  Archbishop  Whitgift,  and  put  by  him  into  the  hands  of 
Mr  Hooker's  intimate  friend,  Dr  Spencer,  who  may  be  supposed  to  have 
made  out  a  copy  from  them,  as  it  is  said  he  did,  agreeable  to  the  mate- 
rials :  and  of  the  work,  thus  finished,  several  copies  were  taken  and  de- 
posited in  well  known  libraries. 

Thirdly,  It  appears  that  during  the  troubles  under  Charles  I.,  there 
was  set  forth,  from  the  Lambeth  Library,  an  edition  in  which  there  are 
affirmed  to  have  been  corruptions  favourable  to  the  parliamentary  cause. 

Fourthly,  There  have  been  later  editions,  under  Episcopalian  patron- 
age, agreeing  with  the  former,  with  the  exception  of  the  alleged  corrup. 
tions,  which  appear  to  have  been  very  few,  though  important. 

From  the  premises,  I  infer  that  wherever  the  opposite  editions  agree, 
there  is  reasonable  evidence  that  the  matters  contained  in  them  are  taken 
from  the  drafts  of  Mr  Hooker :  and  I  thus  fortify  the  proposition  in  a 
civil  and  in  a  religious  point  of  view. 

1.  In  a  civil.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  sentiments  of  the  divines  of 
the  Church  of  England  in  the  time  of  Hooker  were  more  conformable  to 
the  mixed  government  of  that  country,  than  they  became  after  the  ac- 
cession of  the  Stuarts,  and  especially  after  the  reign  of  tyranny  and  hy- 
pocrisy in  the  persons  of  Cromwell  and  others.  The  opinion  here  ex- 
pressed,  I  think,  I  could  prove  to  your  satisfaction.  Now  Hooker's 
political  sentiments  are  in  the  spirit  of  the  British  constitution,  mucli 
more  than  is  consistent  with  the  supposition  of  encouragement  given  to 
fabrication  in  after  times,  by  the  then  friends  of  the  establishment.  And 
on  tlie  other  hand,  if  the  fabrication  had  been  by  the  Presbyterians,  it 
seems  very  improbable,  that  they  would  have  put  into  it  such  weighty 
arguments  against  their  principles  and  their  practices. 
2h* 


386  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

In  a  religious  point  of  view,  I  ask — If  the  work  has  been  corrupted,  in 
the  edition  now  common,  by  whom  was  this  done?  Was  it  by  the 
Presbyterians?  If  this  be  said,  I  think  it  must  be  by  some  high-flying 
Episcopalian,  on  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  accounts  :  because  he 
finds  a  description  of  the  Christian  ministry,  so  different  from  the  Chris- 
tian priesthood  advocated  by  certain  writers  of  another  stamp ;  or  be- 
cause a  parliamentary  sanction  is  defended  on  grounds  which  equally 
warrant  a  lay  sanction  in  another  channel,  dictated  by  other  local  circum- 
stances. In  reference  to  both  these  points,  why  was  not  the  adulteration 
remedied  from  those  other  copies,  which  must  have  come  into  the  hands 
of  the  establishment,  especially  that  of  Archbishop  Usher"?  Or  did  the 
Episcopalians  tamper  with  the  work,  from  zeal  for  the  apostolic  institu- 
tion of  episcopacy  ?  Verily,  they  had  no  need  to  do  it,  as  there  is  no- 
thing to  this  point  in  the  three  books,  which  is  not  as  strongly  affirmed  in 
the  fifth. 

The  sentiment  last  expressed,  seems  to  me  to  admit  of  pertinent  ap- 
plication, in  the  controversy  which  you  state  to  be  impending.  For,  so 
far  as  the  question  relates  to  the  real  sentiments  of  Mr  Hooker,  I  should 
be  willing  to  rest  the  whole  issue  on  the  position,  that  there  is  nothing 
material  in  the  posthumous  books,  which  is  not  at  least  a  fair  deduction 
from  those  edited  by  the  author. 

If  material  alterations  could  be  supposed,  they  must  have  been  by  the 
Presbyterians,  because  Dr  Spencer's  work  is  fairly  traced  to  the  hands 
of  Bishop  King,  and  from  him,  through  those  of  Archbishop  Abbot,  to  the 
Lambeth  Library,  where  the  books  were  found  by  the  party  soon  after- 
wards prevailing,  whose  alterations,  however,  I  presume  to  have  been  no 
more  than  such  as  they  are  charged  with,  which  were  detected,  as  others 
would  have  been,  by  copies  taken  from  Dr  Spencer's. 

There  are  several  particulars  resting  on  my  mind,  in  answer  to  your 
preceding  letter ;  but  I  have  neither  time  nor  room  for  them  in  this,  and 
so  conclude  myself, 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

Wm  white. 

Rev.  John  H.  Hobart,  Assistant  Minister  of  Trinity  Church. 


Of  the  Churches  retaining  the  Episcopal  Succession — and  Additions 
to  Rees^s  Cyclopedia. 

Philadelphia,  April  24,  1807. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

I  have  just  now  received  your  letter,  and  am  sorry  that  I  have  so  lit- 
tle information  to  give  you  on  the  contents  of  it. 

Besides  the  Episcopal  Church  in  England,  Scotland  and  the  United 
States,  I  know  of  no  other  than  the  Romish,  the  Greek,  the  Swedish,  the 
Danish  and  the  Moravian.  In  regard  to  the  Danish,  of  which  you  par- 
ticularly inquire,  it  seems  to  me  very    improbable,  that  their   bishops 


APPENDIX.  387 

should  be  considered  such  without  the  succession ;  and  yet  this  circum- 
stance not  be  noted  in  the  controversies  between  the  Established  Church 
of  England  and  the  dissenters  there,  but  be  brought  forward  on  the  au- 
thority of  a  writer  at  least  obscure.  In  regard  to  the  name  of  Superin- 
tendcnt,  I  understand  it  to  be  used  in  two  dioceses  only,  and  these  for- 
merly belonging  to  Germany.  But  I  have  been  informed,  by  a  gentleman 
who  is  a  native  of  Denmark,  that  even  in  these  two  dioceses,  although 
the  ancient, name  is  retained,  the  persons  are  always  consecrated.  No 
stress  is  to  be  laid  on  the  circumstance  which  passed  soon  after  our 
revolution.  It  was  a  brotherly  offer,  on  the  part  of  Denmark,  to  ordain 
deacons  and  priests  for  us,  but  did  not  arise  from  any  thing  that  passed 
on  this  side  the  water ;  being  the  consequence  of  the  suggestion  of  our 
then  minister  in  London,  Mr  Adams,  to  serve  some  young  gentlemen 
who  had  come  over  for  orders,  but  who  finally  obtained  them  in  London. 
I  presume  that  the  Moravian  succession  can  be  fairly  made  out :  other- 
wise I  think  it  would  never  have  received  the  sanction  of  Archbishop 
Potter  and  other  bishops,  at  the  time  of  passing  the  act  encouraging  the 
settlement  in  the  colonies  of  a  people  called  "  Unitas  Fratrum."  That 
people  value  and  retain  the  documents  of  that  transaction,  as  contained 
in  the  publications  of  the  time,  and  I  make  no  doubt  you  could  be  fur- 
nished with  them  in  New  York, 

In  a  former  letter  you  mentioned  the  Cyclopedia.  As  the  work  pro- 
gresses, I  find  less  need  to  make  remarks.  The  next  article  which  I 
shall  have  to  attend  to,  is  that  of  «'  Bishop."  It  appears  to  me  that  in 
the  first  few  paragraphs,  the  editor  has  pretty  fairly  stated  the  merits  of 
the  controversy,  but  he  becomes  very  unfair  afterwards.  Although  I 
have  only  undertaken  to  attend  to  the  second  half  of  every  volumeryet 
if  any  thing  should  be  requisite  on  the  other  halves,  on  the  principle  of 
"  audi  alteram  partem,"  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  consent  of  Dr  Green.  I 
had  an  instance  of  this  under  the  article  "  Anglo-Calvinists,"  and  since 
that  under  the  article  "  Atterbury."  On  my  part,  care  will  be  taken, 
when  I  insert  any  thing  in  contrariety  to  the  prejudices  of  Dr  Rees,  to  do 
it  in  the  historic  form,  and  not  in  the  dogmatic :  a  distinction  which  I 
think  he  should  have  observed  in  such  a  work  as  his,  but  which  he  has 
not.  I  mean  this  remark  as  it  concerns  difference  among  professing 
Christians.     I  remain. 

Your  affectionate  brother. 
Rev.  John  H.  Hobart,  D.D.  Wm  WHITE. 


Extracts  from  Letters  relating  to  the  Comparative  Views  of  the  Cal- 
vinistic  and  Arminian  Controversy. 

Philadelphia,  August  10,  1808. 
Reverend  and  dear  Sir  : 

The  receiving  this  day  of  the  first  number  of  your  Magazine  reminds  me 

of  what  I  have  for  some  time  had  in  contemplation— the  offering  to  you 


388  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

the  work  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  a  part  of  which  I  read  to  yon. 
The  provisos  are  that  you  should  really  believe  (and  on  this  point  I  re- 
quire you  to  be  candid)  that  it  will  be  a  furthering  of  your  design  ;  and 
that  the  parts  shall  not  be  more  divided  than  the  nature  of  a  magazine 
requires,  which,  as  I  am  aware,  ought  not  to  appropriate  too  great  a  pro- 
portion of  itself  to  any  particular  subject. 

I  could  wish  the  introduction  to  be  entire.  It  will  not  take  up  as 
much  room  as  my  narrative  in  your  present  number,  provided  I  judge 
correctly  from  the  recollection  of  the  sheets  in  manuscript.  My  first  and 
third  points  may  be  divided,  each  of  them,  into  two  or  three,  according 
as  I  shall  be  found  correct  or  otherwise  in  regard  to  the  introduction. 
My  second  point  will  not  take  up  two  of  your  pages,  and  may  therefore, 
according  to  your  pleasure,  be  put  in  a  number  by  itself,  or  joined  in  a 
division  with  the  second  or  the  third.  My  fourth  and  fifth  will  not  be  too 
long  for  one  number,  but  may  be  in  one  or  two,  as.you  may  prefer.  There 
will  remain,  suitable  in  size  for  another  number  (if  you  should  see  a  use 
in  printing  it,  although  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  design),  a  post- 
scri'})!  concerning  the  Gentiles,  whose  case  I  could  not  sufficiently  handle 
in  the  introduction,  without  going  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  Epistle.  * 
*         *         * 

It  is  difficult  for  any  man  to  judge  of  the  comparative  merit  of  what 
he  writes.  But  while  I  hope  I  have  kept  myself  clear  from  the  imagina- 
tion of  there  being  considerable  merit  in  any  thing  of  mine,  I  entertain 
the  sentiment  that  if  I  ever  wrote  any  thing  deserving  of  attention,  it  is 
this  tract.         *         *         *         * 

Philadelphia,  August  26,  1808. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  : 

*  *  *  *  There  is  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  doing  what 
you  propose  in  regard  to  striking  off"  copies  of  the  Tract  a  part  of 
which  I  now  send,  being  not  yet  absolutely  certain  whether  the  Tract 
will  be  part  of  a  larger  work,  or  "litera  sure  potestatis ;"  and  it  is  not 
probable  that  I  shall  make  up  ray  mind  in  regard  to  this,  until  I  see  whe- 
ther what  I  have  written  will  be  thought  of  any  value.       *       *       *       * 

Philadelphia,  October  28, 1809. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir. 

I  send  you  by  my  nephew,  Mr  Thomas  Morris,  a  quire  of  my  second 
part  of  the  Comparison,  &c. 

[Then  follow  directions  relating  to  the  manner  in  which  it  may  be  pro- 
perly divided  for  insertion  in  the  Magazine.] 

Philadelphia,  November  23,  1809. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

*  *  *  *  T  request  you  to  purchase  for  me,  if  it  can 
be  had,  Overton's  True  Churchman ;  and  if  this  cannot  be  done,  but 


APPENDIX.  389 

it  can  be  borrowed,  to  get  it  for  me  in  that  way.  The  only  copy  I  ever 
saw  is  now  in  a  distant  state,  and  I  read  it  before  I  undertook  my  Com- 
parison. To  my  fourth  part  I  have  put  an  appendix,  devoted  to  a  short 
review  of  a  few  productions  of  this  sort.  Those  intended  were  Topiady, 
Haweis  and  Overton.  To  the  former  two  I  have  attended,  and  nothing 
but  some  remarks  on  Overton  are  wanting  to  complete  my  whole  work. 
According  to  my  recollection,  I  sliall  have  occasion  to  treat  him  with 
more  respect  than  the  two  others,  in  whom  there  are  matters  which  I 
cannot  reconcile  either  with  a  Christian  temper  or  with  common  hon- 
esty.        *         *         *         * 

P.S.  I  am  aware  that  there  will  be  wanting  something  explanatory  of 
the  title  of  my  second  part.  But,  instead  of  what  you  propose,  I  prefer  as 
follows.  Put  an  asterisk  after  my  title,  and  then  to  another  asterisk,  at 
the  bottom  of  the  page,  add:  "This  title  refers  to  a  preceding  comparison 
of  the  same  subject  with  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans."       *       *       *       * 

Philadelphia,  December  24,  1809. 
Dear  Sir : 

Since  writing  the  within  I  have  received  Overton,  and  have  found  him 
much  less  potent  than  I  had  supposed  from  giving  him  a  hasty  reading 
formerly.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  few  general  heads,  properly  opened, 
will  show  what  little  bearing  his  reasonings  and  quotations  have  on  the 
subject.  It  will  not  be  to  my  purpose  to  go  into  more  of  him  than'  his 
second  chapter,  except  to  guard  a  reader  against  the  unfairness  of  his 
quotations.  Having  met  in  my  way  some  instances  of  this,  I  compared 
some  of  his  quotations  from  Daubeny  with  the  places  as  they  stand  in 
that  writer,  and  soon  discovered  gross  instances  of  the  same  fault.  Mr 
Daubeny  having  answered  Mr  Overton,  in  a  work  which  I  have  not  seen 
and  cannot  procure  here  called  "  Vindiciffi  Anglicansp,"  I  now  write  to 
request  you  to  procure  it  for  me  in  New  York,  with  the  other  books  men- 
tioned in  the  enclosed.        *        *        *        * 

Philadelphia,  June  5,  1810. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  : 

I  presume  that  you  received  my  note  on  1  Peter  ii.  8,  sent  in  February. 

If  it  be  not  too  late  or  inconvenient,  I  could  wish  added  what  you 

will  see  below.  I  hope  that  the  attention  given  to  this  text  will  not  be 
thought  superfluous.  In  the  Calvinistic  sense  I  have  always  considered 
it  as  applying  more  directly  to  reprobation  than  any  of  the  texts  which 
they  commonly  quote :  and  accordingly,  as  you  will  perceive,  I  have  be- 
stowed some  pains  on  it.         *        *        *        * 

Philadelphia,  July  6,  1812. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

*  *  *  *  As  you  are  said  to  be  contemplating  a  journey, 
on  which  you  will  be  absent  a  considerable  time,  you  will  excuse  my  again 


390  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

introducing  the  subject  of  my  claim  on  Mr  Swords  for  the  remaining  parts 
of  my  Comparison,  &c.  The  reason  of  my  having  some  copies  struck  off 
for  me  was  to  give  an  opportunity  to  myself,  and  the  other  clergy  in  the 
state,  to  furnish  inquirers  with  my  ideas  of  the  merits  of  the  Calvinistic 
question,  so  far  as  Scripture  is  concerned.  In  this  design  I  am  arrested 
for  the  want  of  the  remaining  sheets.  It  is  evident  that  all  the  sheets  per- 
tain] ng  to  the  second  part  will  be  useless  to  me  without  the  remainder. 
Now  what  I  request  of  you  is,  to  obtain  a  positive  answer,  whether  I 
may  expect  them,  and  if  so,  within  what  time  they  may  be  depended  on. 

I  suppose  that  by  this  time  you  have  ascertained  whether  the  Maga- 
zine is  to  go  on  in  Connecticut.  If  you  have  not,  I  think  it  will  be  best  to 
send  back  the  quire  in  your  possession  of  my  Comparison,  being  very 
particular  as  to  the  conveyance. 

Be  so  good  as  to  inform  me — but  without  mentioning  my  writing  to 
you  on  the  subject — what  is  done  or  likely  to  be  done  in  New  York  as 
to  the  use  of  the  "  Prayer  in  time  of  War  and  Tumults."  We  have  not 
yet  read  it  in  our  churches,  nor  indeed  had  any  discussion  of  the  subject: 
but  I  think  it  probable  that,  if  the  disuse  be  continued,  it  will  give  occasion 
to  those  who  seek  occasion.  As  to  my  own  opinion,  I  have  always  held 
in  these  matters,  that,  however  the  individual  may  possess  his  own  opi- 
nion and  be  free  in  expressing  it,  he  is  to  submit  in  his  conduct  to  the 
public  voice  of  his  country.  In  the  prayer  itself  there  is  nothing  that 
any  can  in  conscience  object  to :  and  yet  I  confess  there  is  something  in 
me  rendering  the  use  of  it  the  reluctant  yielding  to  duty,  because  of  the 
very  improper  views  which  I  conceive  to  have  occasioned  the  present 
W3,r  ^        ^        ^        ^ 

Philadelphia,  November  21,  1816. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

*  *  *  *  Supposing  that  the  demise  of  the  Church- 
man's Magazine  puts  a  period  to  the  publishing  of  my  Comparison,  I 
wrote  to  Mr  Rudd  to  send  the  manuscript.  He  returned  for  answer, 
that  he  had  delivered  it  to  you  and  to  Dr  How.  Whichever  of  you 
may  have  it  in  possession,  I  beg  the  favour  of  you  to  forward  it  to  me  by 
some  careful  hand.  Perhaps  I  may  be  able  to  improve  it,  and  publish  the 
whole  work  together,  when  the  times  and  my  private  circumstances  may 
suit.         *        *        *         ^ 

Philadelphia,  March  28,  1817. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

*  *  *  *  The  great  increase  of  books  on  the  subject 
of  the  Calvinistic  controversy,  since  I  drew  up  my  papers  relative  to 
it,  has  lately  induced  in  me  a  determination  to  publish  them.  The 
paper  is  engaged  for  the  purpose,  and  Mr  Bronson  proposes  to  begin  on 
Monday.  The  work  will  be  in  two  volumes  octavo.  The  first  volume 
will  contain  the  first  three  parts.     The  fourth  part,  relative  to  the  Epis- 


APPENDIX.  391 

copal  Church,  containing,  besides  what  you  have  read,  remarks  on  some 
late  divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  have  affirmed  the  Calvinism 
of  its  institution,  will  make  better  than  one  half  of  the  second  volume  : 
the  remainder  of  which  will  comprehend  No.  1,  On  Baptismal  Rege- 
neration, and  No.  2,  On  Mr  Daille's  treatise  "  Of  the  Use  of  the  Fa- 
thers." These  two  subjects  entered  so  materially  into  various  parts  of 
the  performance,  that,  to  avoid  interruption  of  the  thread  of  argument,  I 
judged  best  to  discuss  them  in  an  appendix. 

Of  what  I  wrote  on  the  former  of  them,  I  gave  an  epitome  in  my  lec- 
tures, which  were  so  brief  that  I  do  not  judge  it  improper  to  renew  the 
point.  I  have  not  been  inattentive  to  what  has  been  recently  given  rela- 
tive to  it  in  the  Christian  Observer.  But,  in  reviewing  my  performance, 
I  do  not  find  any  more  necessary  than  what  may  be  inserted  in  a  few 
notes.  Dr  Mant's  tract  having  given  occasion  to  so  many  animadver- 
sions in  the  Christian  Observer,  I  am  desirous  of  seeing  it,  very  much 
suspecting  that  he  has  been  misrepresented.        *        *        *        ■* 


Extracts  relating  to  Bible  Societies. 

Philadelphia,  December  29, 1810. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir: 

I  am  exceedingly  sorry  to  observe  what  appears  in  your  Magazine  con- 
cerning Bible  Societies.  On  the  one  hand,  I  ought  not  to  suppose,  that 
a  bishop  of  London  would  hazard  such  things  without  cause:  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  cannot  part  with  my  long  entertained  opinion  of  the  wis- 
dom as  well  as  the  piety  of  his  predecessor.  His  name,  with  the  names 
of  other  bishops  and  other  eminent  men  in  England,  encouraged 
me  much  to  join  in  a  similar  enterprise  in  this  country.  What  will 
be  the  issue  of  a  division  of  sentiment,  both  in  England  and  here,  I 
cannot  foresee.  But  this  is  a  subject  too  extensive  for  the  conclusion  of 
a  letter.         *        *         *        * 

Philadelphia,  February  16,  1811. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir: 

*  *  *  *  I  fear  you  understood  what  1  said  of  your 
mention  of  the  Bible  Society  in  a  much  stronger  sense  than  what  was 
intended.  It  is  a  subject  on  which  I  wish  for  information  :  having  not 
seen  either  the  publication  of  Mr  Wordsworth  or  that  of  Lord  Teign- 
mouth.  If  the  late  excellent  bishop  of  London  and  several  other  bisiiops 
have  been  too  hasty  in  patronizing  the  Bible  Society,  certainly  their  exam- 
ple ought  not  to  be  followed.  But  this  ought  not  to  be  believed  too 
hastily.  The  former  seems  to  have  been  very  zealous  in  the  business ; 
for,  besides  his  being  an  officer  and  making  of  large  donations,  there  is 
in  the  Ecclesiastical  Register  for  1808  a  letter  of  his  to  the  planters  of 
Jamaica,  in  which  he  recites  the  immense  eftbrts  of  the  labourers  of  the 


392  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

institution.  I  can  easily  conceive,  however,  that  in  England  there  may 
be  some  objections  to  the  concurring  in  good  designs  with  the  dissenters, 
which  objections  do  not  lie  here.  In  matters  in  which  peculiarities  of 
profession  may  clash,  no  clergyman  has  been  more  cautious  than  myself 
in  committing  any  point  belonging  to  our  communion  to  the  wills  of  those 
who  differ  from  us.  But  I  have  always  been  of  opinion,  that  when,  with- 
out hazard  of  this,  there  can  be  communications  in  any  laudable  design, 
they  tend  not  onl}'  to  Christian  charity,  but  to  reconcile  the  more  sensi- 
ble and  moderate  of  other  communions  to  our  principles  and  to  our  insti- 
tutions. However  laudable  the  distributing  of  Prayer  Books,  it  seems 
to  me  an  object  distinct  from  the  other,  which  is  of  great  magnitude,  of 
expense,  and  requires  combined  exertions :  there  being  danger  of  the 
extinction  of  the  profession  of  Christianity  among  a  great  proportion  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  And  that,  so  far  as  the  increase  of  our 
own  communion  is  concerned,  we  ought  not  to  fear  that  the  making 
known  of  the  contents  of  the  Bible  will  be  less  likely  to  make  people 
churchmen  than  of  any  other  society. 

These  sentiments  are  expressed  not  to  censure,  but  to  explain.  The 
clergy  of  our  Church  in  this  city  entered  into  the  design  of  a  Bible  So- 
ciety, when  they  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  objection  existed 
against  the  projected  plan  with  our  brethren  in  other  states,  and  when 
they  saw  a  similar  plan  patronized  by  high  characters  in  church  and 
state  in  England.  We  have  not  yet  seen  cause  to  alter  our  opinion ; 
but  if  our  brethren  of  the  clergy  in  the  other  states  pursue  the  same 
object  by  a  different  road,  I  think  we  should  wish  one  another  suc- 
cess.        *         *         *         * 


Of  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln'' s  Refutation  of  Calvinism. 

Philadelphia,  June  16,  1812. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

As  Mr  Moore  merely  passes  through  this  city,  the  engagements  of  the 
day  do  not  permit  me  to  return  your  book  with  more  than  these  few  lines. 

I  ought,  and  hope  I  do,  speak  with  diffidence,  when  I  confess  to  you 
that  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  does  not  seem  to  me  always  to  distinguish 
clearly. 

For  instance,  so  early  as  in  the  third  page,  he  not  only  represents  the 
opinion  opposed  to  his  differently  from  what  a  Calvinist  would  own,  par- 
ticularly in  the  terms  "  incorrigible  and  "  incapable  of  amendment,"  for 
human  nature  is  confessedly  corrigible  and  amendable  by  divine  grace — 
and  without  this  an  anti-Calvinist  ought  not  to  suppose  it  possible — but 
in  speaking  of  "  a  co-operation  of  man,"  he  loses  sight  of  that  prevent- 
ing grace  which  our  system  supposes  to  precede  it.  This  sentiment,  so 
far  as  it  respects  preventing  grace,  you  seem  to  have  possessed,  by  the 
notes  which  you  have  made  with  a  pencil  in  the  margin  :  although,  in 
some  instances,  thev  are  too  faint  to  be  read. 


APPENDIX.  393 

When  the  bishop  speaks  of  faith  and  works,  he  falls  into  what  I  con- 
ceive the  error  of  supposing  that,  under  the  latter  term,  St  Paul  means 
only  works  of  the  ceremonial  law.  There  are  many  expressions  of  the 
apostle  which  seem  to  me  to  contradict  this,  and  to  prove  that  he  con- 
templated  the  whole  law,  and  intended  to  show  that,  on  the  ground  of 
the  Jewish  covenant,  there  was  no  justification  thereby — justification  was 
all  along  by  faith  in  a  dispensation  to  come,  but  faith,  both  then  and 
now,  involved  in  it  the  principle  of  obedience. 

Of  the  many  quotations  which  the  bishop  has  made  from  the  fathers  on 
the  subject  of  free  will,  there  are  a  considerable  proportion  which,  I 
think,  would  not  be  denied  by  Calvinists,  especially  by  those  who  are 
such  on  the  pretence  of  philosophical  necessity,  who  say  that  the  will  is 
free — that  is,  unaffected  by  any  external  force,  and  yet  is  determined  by 
causes  which  act  as  effectually  as  any  force  applied  to  matter.        * 


Of  the  "  Appe7idix  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Question.''^ 

Philadelphia,  November  27,  1813. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

In  your  last  you  mentioned  to  me  your  design*  of  reviewing  the  Ap- 
pendix  to  the  Report  of  the  Trial  on  the  Cathohc  Question,  and  in- 
vited  me  to  suggest  to  you  any  hints  which  might  occur.  I  have  not  had 
time  to  bestow  much  attention  to  the  subject,  but  in  reading  the  said 
production  I  marked  some  places,  to  which  I  will  be  free  to  ask  your 
particular  attention,  although  I  doubt  not  of  their  being  noticed  without 
any  prompting  of  mine. 

Page  21  and  elsewhere,  "  the  doing  of  penance"  is  presumed  to  mean 
the  same  with  "  repentance."  They  certainly  convey  very  different 
ideas.  It  is  true  that,  in  Latin,  "  agere penitentiaiii"  is  a  proper  transla- 
tion of  "  to  repent :"  but  the  standard  is  the  Greek,  which  has  nothing 
like  it.  And  to  show  the  impropriety  of  confounding  the  two  ideas  in 
English,  it  is  worth  while  to  turn  to  some  text,  which  even  the  Doway 
translation  does  not  venture  to  apply  to  the  doing  of  penance:  as  Mat- 
thewxxi.  29  and  32 ;  xxvii.  3  ;  2  Corinthians  vii.  8. 

In  the  same  page  there  are  two  syllogisms,  of  which  you  will  see 
the  fallacy.  The  major  of  the  first  is  needlessly  incumbered  with  the 
words  "  to  do  penance :"  without  which  it  must  be  granted.  The  minor 
is  professed  to  be  sustained  by  another  syllogism,  of  which  neither  major 
nor  minor  is  true.  The  former  confounds  the  subject  with  the  effect  of  a 
judicial  sentence.  The  latter  is  contrary  to  observation,  which  must 
have  furnished  us  with  instances  of  sorrow,  as  well  in  the  domestic  as  in 
the  religious  Hne,  perceived  to  be  unequivocal,  without  our  knowing  of 
the  particulars  of  offence  in  the  respective  departments. 

*  This  design  was  not  executed  by  Bishop  Hobart.  The  Appendix  was  afterwards  an- 
swered by  the  Rev.  Dr  Wharton. 

2i 


394  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

Some  of  the  quotations  from  the  fathers  are  evidently  irrelevant.  I  do 
not  doubt  that  others  of  them  are  misrepresented.  Those  from  Chrysos- 
tom  are  certainly  so.  The  passage  quoted  from  "  De  Sacerd."  lib,  2, 
might  be  fitly  applied  to  voluntary  unburthening  of  consciences  to  Pro- 
testant clergymen.  That  quoted  (page  49)  from  the  third  book  is  evi- 
dently  intended  by  the  father  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  in 
virhich  assurance  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  given.  Of  all  the  fathers, 
none  is  more  decisive  of  the  non-necessity  of  auricular  confession  than 
Chrysostom :  which  seems  to  have  arisen  from  a  circumstance  noticed 
in  one  of  my  dissertations. 

Page  70.  There  is  a  mis-statement  of  the  Protestant  argument  con- 
cerning the  Council  of  Lateran.  It  is  not  that  auricular  confession  was 
till  then  unknown,  but  that  it  was  not  before  enjoined  by  ecclesiastical 
law. 

Page  71  et  seq.  In  what  is  said  concerning  the  Greeks,  there  is 
carefully  kept  out  of  sight  that  they  have  never  to  this  day  used  the  abso- 
lute form  of  the  Romish  Ritual,  and  of  the  English  Book  of  Common 
Prayer:  theirs  is  declaratory,  as  is  testified  by  Dr  Covel.  Of  the  other 
forms,  no  instance  is  alleged  from  an  early  period  of  the  church. 

As  to  the  argument,  from  the  difficulty  of  the  introduction  of  so  humi- 
liating an  ordinance,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this,  like  many  other 
things  which  have  proved  dreadful  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  hierarchy, 
was  introduced  with  the  most  pious  views.  The  abuses  have  proved 
them  the  result  of  a  mistaken  piety. 

It  would  be  a  delicate  task  to  balance  the  incidental  good  with  the  mis- 
chiefs.    The  latter  might  be  shown  to  preponderate. 

Although  I  believe  that  the  form  in  the  visitation  office  of  the  Church 
of  England  was  a  sacrifice  to  ancient  habit,  yet  it  was  not  fair  to  pro- 
duce  it  without  noticing  the  wide  difference  made  by  the  rubric  be- 
tween that  Church  and  the  Church  of  Rome.  As  to  the  mention  of 
"  absolution,"  in  one  of  the  exhortations,  it  cannot  allude  to  the  afore- 
said positive  form,  because  there  is  nothing  in  the  English  institutions 
which  warrants  a  clergyman  to  use  the  said  form,  except  in  the  case  of 
sickness.  Also  the  unburthening  of  the  conscience  to  the  minister  rests 
on  the  condition,  that  the  party  cannot  satisfy  his  own  conscience. 

It  is  strange  that  two  lawyers,  one  of  whom  calls  himself  a  Protestant, 
and  the  other  says  he  is  no  Catholic,  should  concede  that  auricular  con- 
fession had  been  in  the  Church  for  eighteen  centuries. 

Although  I  approve  of  the  decision  of  the  court,  yet  I  think  there  is 
an  imperfection  in  their  not  so  guarding  of  tlie  point  as  to  prevent  here- 
after a  plea  for  impunity  in  the  case  of  a  crime  in  prospect  and  revealed 
in  confession.  The  case  of  Garnet,  provincial  of  the  Jesuits,  at  the  time 
of  the  gunpowder  plot,  is  worthy  of  notice.  His  defence  rested  on  the 
ground  of  the  seal  of  confession,  but  he  was  justly  executed. 

It  seems  to  me,  also,  that  the  right  to  secresy  should  not  have  been 


APPENDIX.  395 

treated  by  gentlemen  of  the,  law  as  belonging  to  Roman  Catholic  minis- 
ters only. 

I  doubted  whether  it  would  be  worth  while  to  suggest  these  hints,  but  a 
convenient  opportunity  offering,  I  have  set  them  down  in  haste.        * 


Of  the  four  Lectures  on  the   Three-fold  State  of  Man  ;  and  Bishop 
Mannas  Catechism. 

April  20,  1816. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir: 

I  return  ....  the  catechism  left  by  you  with  blank  leaves.  You 
will  perceive  that  I  have  been  free  in  my  remarks  on  it.  There  is  by 
me  another  catechism,  published  in  New  York  in  1813,  and  written  by 
Bishop  Mann.  It  appears  to  me  at  least  equal  to  any  thing  I  have  seen 
of  the  sort.  In  my  hasty  perusal  of  it  there  was  but  one  particular  in 
v/hich  I  doubted  of  his  sense.  It  is  in  the  first  answer  on  the  subject  of 
the  sacraments.  Perceiving  it  to  differ  from  any  interpretations  in  my 
lectures,  I  consulted  Seeker,  and  found  him  to  agree  with  me.  Our  in- 
terpretation  seems  countenanced  by  these  words  in  the  service  for  adult 
baptism  :  "  whereby  ye  perceive  the  great  necessity  of  this  sacra- 
ment, where  it  may  be  had." 

On  four  days  in  this  week  I  have  delivered  to  a  respectable  attendance 
four  lectures  on  the  foUov/ing  subjects  :  Of  Man,  in  his  Integrity,  in 
his  Apostacy,  and  under  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  :  the  last  subject 
being  divided  into  two  parts  ;  of  which  the  first  part  respected  the  acts 
of  God  alone,  and  the  second  related  to  what  required  the  concurrence 
of  man.  They  were  supplementary  to  lectures  delivered  hy  my  brethren 
during  lent.  A  principal  object  was  to  distinguish  the  doctrines  of  our 
Church  from  Calvinism  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  what  is  called 
Unitarianism  on  the  other.  Perhaps  I  should  rather  have  said  Pelagian- 
ism,  for  the  question  of  Christ's  divinity  was  not  handled.     *     *     *     * 


Of  Bishop  HoharVs  Address   at  the   Funeral  of  Bishop   Benjamhi 
Moore,  and  the  Appendix  to  it, 

Philadelphia,  May  28,  1816. 
*  *  *  *  I  read  your  address  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
of  Bishop  Moore,  and  tlie  appendix,  with  great  interest ;  not  only  be- 
cause I  think  them  well  written,  but  because  I  consider  the  truth  on  the 
subject  of  them  as  too  little  attended  to.  It  has  been  said  by  a  gentle- 
man of  New  York,  of  influence  in  the  church,  and  your  friend,  that  some 
of  the  attendant  clergy  of  other  denominations  took  offence.  Certainly 
your  doctrine  is  opposed  to  that  of  the  Westminster  Confession  in  the 
22^  chapter :  but  as  you  lay  down  the  doctrine  of  your  own  church,  on 


396  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

an  occasion  to  which  it  was  obviously  pertinent,  and  without  censure  on 
any  other  communion,  I  see  no  ground  of  offence.        *        *        *        * 

I  have  just  now  looked  into  a  Scotch  edition  of  the  Confession, 
wherein,  to  almost  every  clause,  there  is  a  letter  referring  to  a  note  con- 
taining sustaining  texts  ;  but  to  the  clause  above  noticed  there  is  no  such 
reference  and  note.  Having  always  considered  the  doctrine  of  the  con- 
fession as  borrowed  from  popery  in  this  instance,  I  read  your  appendix 
with  regret  at  finding  you  content  with  denying  your  own  doctrine  to  be 
popish,  until  I  came  to  the  last  page  but  three  ;  when  I  no  longer  found 
any  defect  in  your  performance.         *         =«         *         * 


Of  the  four  Lectures,  and  the  Address,  in  the  two  preceding  Articles; 
and  of  combining  with  other  Denominations. 

Philadelphia,  June  13,  1816. 

*  *  *  *  It  would  give  me  pain  to  decline  a  compliance 
with  any  thing  you  propose  :  but  having  regretted  my  not  adhering  to 
the  first  design  of  my  Lectures  on  the  Catechism,  of  making  them  subser- 
vient to  an  annual  interesting  of  our  young  people,  with  a  view  to  con- 
firmation and  the  communion,  I  framed  these  later  lectures  as  a  substi- 
tute. Besides,  lest  I  should  have  been  too  hasty  on  some  important 
points,  I  wish  to  keep  them  by  me  for  some  time  to  correct,  if  there 
should  seem  cause,  and  at  any  rate  to  frame  some  explanatory  notes. 
There  also  seems  to  me  some  difficulty  in  the  circumstance  of  your 
having  declared  your  intention  of  proceeding  with  my  Comparison.  It 
would  not  be  expedient  that  too  great  a  proportion  of  your  publication 
should  be  occupied  by  one  pen. 

Were  it  not  for  the  last  consideration  I  should  make  an  offer  to  you 
of  a  few  essays  which  I  have  drawn  up  ;  with  a  hope  of  their  contribu- 
ting to  give  a  right  direction  to  the  habits  of  thinking  of  the  young  men 
now  studying  divinity  in  this  city.  The  titles  of  them  are  :  1.  "  Some 
Objections  against  the  position  of  a  Personal  Assurance  of  the  Pardon 
of  Sin,  by  a  direct  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  2.  "  An  Exami- 
nation of  the  merits  of  four  Phrases  which  have  the  show  of  Piety,  but 
are  unauthorized  by  Scripture,  and  of  a  dangerous  tendency."  3.  "  An 
Essay  concerning  a  Pretended  Imitation  of  the  Kiss  of  Charity,  spoken 
of  in  Romans,  xvi.  16,  and  in  four  other  places  of  Scripture."  4.  "  An 
Essay  concerning  some  Errors  in  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Dr  Law- 
rence Mosheim  ;  in  the  Notes  of  Dr  Archibald  Maclaine  ;  and  in  the 
History  of  the  Puritans  by  Daniel  Neal." 

You  will  wonder  what  is  meant  by  the  third  essay.  Some  time  after 
our  general  convention,  I  was  informed  of  Dashiel's  benevolence  in  this 
line  towards  some  females  of  respectable  standing  among  us.  I  com- 
posed the  essay,  fully  intending  that  if  he  should  practise  the  same  in 
any  future  visits,  I  would  submit  my  remarks  to  the  perusal  of  the  hus- 
bands or  fathers. 


APPENDIX.        •      *  397 

The  phrases  referred  to  in  the  second  essay  are :  "  The  Witness  of 
the  Spirit;"  "Vital  Godliness;"  "Experimental  Religion  ;"  and  "  the 
Hiding  of  God's  Face."        *        *        *        * 

What  I  said  concerning  offence  taken  at  your  address  was  owing  to 
something  coming  from  a  friendly  quarter ;  which  induced  me  to  suppose 
it  true.         *:}:** 

There  have  been  lately  several  events  convincing  me  of  the  propriety 
of  what  I  have  always  maintained  as  the  right  course  with  people  of 
other  denominations — to  be  entirely  distinct  in  our  proceedings,  purely 
religious,  and  to  cultivate  all  possible  benevolence  in  every  other  line. 
All  deviation  from  this  ends  in  controversy  and  confusion.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  union  in  distributing  Bibles  came  under  the  latter  head. 
That  it  is  endeavoured  to  graft  on  it  other  objects  is  too  evident  in 
some  places.  How  the  matter  will  end,  I  cannot  foresee ;  but  shall 
endeavour  to  conduct  myself  on  the  subject  as  duty  may  dictate. 


Of  the  Habits  of  the  Clergy. 

Philadelphia,  October  24,  1818. 
*  *  *  *  A  few  days  ago  there  fell  into  my  hands  a 
volume  on  the  liturgy  by  the  Reverend  Mr  Biddulph  of  Bristol.  In  the 
beginning  of  it  I  find  a  perpetuating  of  an  error  of  Daniel  Neal,  lately 
noticed  by  me  in  your  journal,  and  evidently  designed  by  him  to  insinuate 
a  retrograde  movement  towai"ds  popery,  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  What 
more  surprises  me,  Mr  Biddulph  quotes — and  as  I  find  correctly — from 
Wheately.  They  are  correct  in  quoting  from  the  act  of  uniformity  ;  but 
the  fallacy  consists  in  their  silence.  The  act  restored  the  habits  of  the 
1st  book  of  Edward,  but  contained  a  clause  empowering  the  queen  to 
make  alterations.  In  virtue  of  that  clause  she  reverted  to  the  habits  of 
the  2d  book,  during  the  first  year  of  her  reign.  On  the  change  was  pre- 
dicated one  of  her  injunctions,  as  found  in  Sparrow,  about  four  or  five 
vears  after,  and  shamefully  misquoted  by  Neal.  I  suppose  that  Mr 
Biddulph,  whose  book  I  perceive  to  be  recommended  by  Bishop  Gns- 
wold,  thought  himself  safe  in  following  a  work  so  much  a  standard  as 
that  of  Mr  Wheately. 


Preference  of  Domestic  Missio7is. 

Philadelphia,  November  2,  1820. 
*  *  *  *  On  the  subject  of  the  Missionary  Society  I  have 
to  mention  that  you  and  Bishop  Cross  being  opposed  to  further  progress 
under  the  imperfect  arrangement.  Bishops  Griswold  and  Brownell  being 
m  favour  of  it,  and  Bishops  Kemp,  Moore  and  Bowen  being  merely 
willing  to  acquiesce,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  decline  the  taking  of 
any  step  under  the  act  of  the  late  convention.  This  has  produced  the 
question  whether  the  managers  may  not  proceed,  under  a  voluntary 
association  of  their  own,  to  continue  until  the  next  general  convention  ; 
2i* 


39S  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

and  the  resident  members  have  written  to  the  absent  ones  to  know  their 
minds  on  this  subject. 

There  are  tv/o  sentiments  resting  on  my  mind  in  relation  to  the  con- 
templated object :  first,  that  where  so  many  efforts  are  making  for  car- 
rying the  gospel  to  distant  lands,  it  may  seem  a  defect  of  duty  in  our 
church,  and  further  operates  to  its  discredit  to  have  no  share  in  the 
work  ;  and  secondly,  that  as  the  zeal  excited  in  this  line  will  produce 
exertions  to  the  effect,  it  seems  the  dictate  of  religious  wisdom  to  give 
a  proper  direction  to  what  will  be  attempted  in  one  shape  or  in  another. 
It  is  however  my  decided  opinion  that  our  endeavours  should  be  prin- 
cipally put  forth  in  those  parts  of  our  own  country  destitute  of  a  gospel 
ministry — especially  in  the  western  states ;  but  if  people  give  money 
with  a  special  view  to  foreign  parts,  I  would  not  shut  the  door  against 
utility  in  that  line.        *        *        *        * 


Of  his  Dialogues  on  Baptismal  Regeneration. 

Philadelphia,  February  9,  1822. 
*  *  *  *  You  are  at  liberty  to  print  the  Dialogues,  if  you 
think  them  sufficiently  matured  for  the  press.  My  reason  for  writing 
them  was  to  express,  in  a  familiar  form,  what  I  had  elsewhere  published 
of  my  opinions  on  the  subject ;  in  order  to  put  them  into  the  hands  of 
any  membei's  of  our  congregations  with  whom  I  might  occasionally  con- 
verse on  a  point  so  much  agitated  among  us  lately,  and  to  guard  against 
misapprehension  of  our  doctrine.  This  object  may  be  accomplished  by 
your  printed  sheets. 


Of  'permitting  the   Clergy  of  other  denominations  to  officiate  in  our 
Burial  Grounds. 

Philadelphia,  November  12,  1822. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir : 

Your  letter  of  yesterday  has  reached  me,  and  has  revived  in  my  mind 
the  sentiment  with  which  it  was  lately  impressed  of  gratitude  to  Al- 
mighty God  for  your  being  still  spared  to  the  Church,  to  your  family  and 
to  your  friends.  Those  of  us  in  this  city  felt  the  full  pressure  of  your 
iate  danger,  and  sympathised  with  you  and  yours. 

In  reference  to  the  subject  of  your  letter,  it  would  seem  to  me  a 
carrying  of  the  matter  rather  too  far  to  suppose  that  permission  to  the 
minister  of  another  denomination  to  officiate  in  our  churchyards  at  the 
funeral  of  one  of  his  flock  is  a  recognition  of  the  validity  of  his  orders. 
The  principle  on  which  I  have  steadily  refused  such  permission — al- 
though, by  the  bye,  it  has  never  been  asked  by  the  friends  of  the  de- 
ceased person,  and  I  have  been  only  two  or  three  times  sounded  on  the 
subject  by  others — is,  that  it  will  inevitably  lead  to  contention  between 
us  and  other  religious  societies.     Some  ministers  are  so  intent  on  their 


APPENDIX.  399 

own  views  of  religious  subjects  as  to  have  obtruded  them  even  within  the 
walls  of  our  churches,  when  they  have  obtained  the  use  of  them.  In 
the  open  burial  grounds  there  would  be  easier  openings  to  such  intem- 
perance. It  may  be  said  that  some  clergymen  of  other  denominations 
are  of  such  characters  that  no  apprehension  of  the  contemplated  result 
should  be  entertained  of  them.  I  grant  this  to  the  full ;  and  could 
name  some  gentlemen  to  whom  it  is  decidedly  applicable.  But,  were 
those  gentlemen  admitted  on  the  principle  stated,  I  must  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  the  character  of  every  other  gentleman  for  whom  application 
might  be  made.  This  is  so  delicate  a  matter,  that  in  a  short  time  the 
gates  would  be  open  to  all.        *        *        *        * 


Of  the  Clerical  Association, 

Philadelphia,  May  4,  1829. 

*  *  *  *  It  is  very  agreeable  to  me  that  there  is  likely 
to  be  an  end  of  the  association*  to  which  you  have  been  recently  opposed. 
Give  me  leave,  however,  to  express  to  you  the  opinion  which  I  have  en- 
tertained and  declared  on  the  subject.  If  the  opinion  should  not  be  pre- 
cisely  the  same  with  yours,  it  will  be  received  by  you  as  honest ;  while 
the  discrepancy  will  be  viewed  by  me  as  owing  partly  to  somewhat  of  a 
difference  in  our  natural  temperaments,  and  partly  to  my  longer  observa- 
tion than  yours  of  human  nature. 

For  such  an  association  as  that  in  question  I  see  no  use ;  while  the 
probable  abuses  of  it  are  what  you  have  detailed.  But  in  all  efforts  for 
such  a  purpose  as  have  passed  under  my  observation,  I  have  perceived 
materials  which,  under  neglect,  would  assuredly  produce  a  dissolution. 
Whether  death  in  this  way,  or  more  expeditiously  as  in  the  recent 
case  in  New  York,  be  the  most  desirable,  must  depend  on  circum- 
stances.       *        *        *        * 


*  The  association  referred  to  was  tlie  Clerical  Association  formed  in  the  city  of  New 
York  ;  an  account  of  which  is  given  by  Dr  Berrian  in  his  Memoir  of  the  Life  of  Bishop  Ho- 
bart,  pp.  384—409. 


400  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

X. 

OF  THE  WANDERING  OF  THE  MIND  IN  PRAYER. 

(Page  2Q4  ante.) 

Of  all  the  frailties  which  sincere  Christians  lament,  and  of  which  they 
frequently  complain,  perhaps  there  is  no  one  so  prominent  as  that  of  the 
wandering  of  the  mind  in  prayer.  Accordingly  a  few  remarks,  to  be  ex- 
pressed with  brevity,  may  not  only  be  matter  of  profitable  recollection, 
but  prepare  with  useful  hints  to  be  presented,  on  the  occurrence  of  the 
subject  in  confidential  conversation. 

Whatever  may  be  the  degree  of  laxity  in  this  matter,  it  has  begun  in 
the  personal  and  private  exercises  of  devotion.  Therefore  the  remedy  of 
the  evil  requires  the  taking  of  it  at  this  its  source.  The  correcting  of  it 
there  cannot  fail  to  be  felt  in  the  public  services  of  the  Church.  They 
shall  therefore  be  put  out  of  view  in  the  present  exercise ;  the  sense  of 
which  may  generally  be  applied  to  the  latter  subject,  no  less  than  to  the 
other. 

The  first  suggestion  is  the  fixing  of  the  mind  on  the  sense  of  the 
prayer :  not  only  the  general  sense  of  it,  but  that  of  each  clause  in  its 
proper  place.  Even  in  this  kind  of  prayer  there  will  be  use  in  being 
governed  by  forms  prescribed  to  ourselves,  written  or  printed,  or  con- 
ceived and  committed  to  memory.  It  cannot  but  be  a  help  to  the  pray- 
ing with  the  understanding. 

Next  let  there  be  the  desire  of  the  heart,  resting  on  the  things  to  be 
prayed  for.  By  this  is  meant,  not  an  affection  of  the  mind,  excited  by 
some  occasional  event,  which,  however  suitable  at  the  time,  or  to  the 
then  present  state  of  the  party,  may  be  temporary,  like  the  cause  of  it ; 
but  habitual  desire,  descriptive  of  inward  character.  Such  preparation 
can  only  be  the  fruit  of  frequent  meditation  on  the  subjects  which  it  is 
fit  to  bring  statedly  before  the  great  Being  to  whom  "  all  hearts  are  open 
and  all  desires  are  known." 

While  the  said  two  particulars  are  faithfully  acted  on,  it  may  be  well 
to  disregard  all  endeavours  for  the  excitement  of  those  animal  feelings, 
which  depend  on  the  ebbing  and  the  flowing  of  the  spirits  ;  in  some  mea- 
sure on  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  much  on  the  variety  of  organiza- 
tion in  the  bodies  of  different  persons.  It  is  the  cause  of  much  sin,  that 
some  judge  of  their  religious  states  by  their  feelings  of  this  sort,  which 
may  eventuate  either  in  unwarrantable  comfort  and  even  ecstasy,  or  in  a 
depth  of  sorrow  excluding  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel.  The  said 
feelings  are  no  tests  of  spiritual  character ;  and  how  little  they  are  de- 
pendent on  human  will,  may  be  sometimes  seen  in  occurrences  having  no 


APPENDIX.  401 

connexion  with  religion,  in  wliich  there  are  sufficient  motives  for  the 
desiring  of  such  emotions,  while  all  endeavours  for  the  excitement  of 
them  are  in  vain.  That  without  preceding  intention  they  wil  occasion, 
ally  be  presented,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  What  is  objected  to,  is  the 
making  of  them  the  test  of  a  religious  state.  This  is  evident  in  cases  oif 
persons  unquestionably  in  deep  distress,  but  complaining  that  they  can- 
not possess  the  feelings  which  issue  in  tears. 

It  will  be  a  help  in  prayer,  before  entry  on  it,  to  make  a  pause,  for  the 
fixing  of  the  mind  on  the  character  of  the  great  Being  to  be  addressed ; 
especially  on  his  having  vouchsafed  to  reveal  himself  to  us  as  "  the  hearer 
of  prayer."  In  the  several  branches  of  it  also,  as  far  as  is  possible  with- 
out an  unseasonable  suspension  of  the  train  of  thought,  there  should  be  a 
direction  of  the  mind  to  the  particular  attributes  on°  which  the  request  is 
to  be  bottomed ;  especially  in  invoking  the  name  of  God.  In  the  use  of 
the  prayers  of  our  liturgy,  we  are  aided  in  this  by  the  circumstance,  that 
they  generally  begin  with  the  matter  which  has  been  recommended.  It 
clothes  the  service  with  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  its  excellences, 
and  is  well  worthy  of  being  imitated  in  the  conducting  of  personal  prayer. 
Let  no  morning  be  begun,  and  no  evening  be  concluded,  without  a  self- 
dedication  to  him  who  "  holdeth  our  feet  in  life."  It  would  be  an  error 
to  dispense  with  this  where  family  prayer  is  a  part  of  the  domestic  ar- 
rangement, as  it  ought  to  be  always.  There  will  be  calls  for  personal 
applications,  suited  to  the  consciousness  of  the  party.  And  in  regard  to 
all,  since  on  any  committing  of  themselves  to  sleep,  they  know  not  whe- 
ther they  shall  see  the  light  of  another  day  ;  nor,  in  the  event  of  this,  what 
dangers,  temporal  and  spiritual,  are  to  assail  them;  there  will  always  be 
special  calls  for  prayer,  suited  to  tlie  two  periods  of  time  referred  to. 

In  tho  course  of  every  day,  on  the  occurrence  of  any  incident  interest- 
ing  to  the  feelings,  it  will  very  much  cherish  a  devout  spirit,  and  of  course 
be  a  check  to  the  wandering  of  thought,  to  be  in  the  habit  of  elevating 
the  heart  to  the  great  Ordainer  of  what  has  happened.  There  have  been 
some  pious  persons  who  have  accustomed  themselves  to  certain  hours 
during  the  day,  when  they  have  retired,  for  the  keeping  up  of  communion 
with  their  God.  This  maybe  commendable  in  those  so  situated,  as  that 
It  will  not  interfere  with  duties  lying  on  them,  as  imperious  as  that  of 
prayer;  but  it  cannot  be  enjoined  on  the  greater  number  of  professors, 
who  must  either  suspend  those  duties,  or  discharge  the  other  in  a  way 
liable  to  the  charge  of  ostentation. 

Let  there  be  submission  to  the  divine  will,  as  to  the  granting  or  the 
withholding  of  things  prayed  for;  although  not  to  the  lessening  of  confi- 
dence in  the  promise—"  if  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to 
your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  give  his  holy  spirit  to 
those  that  ask  of  him?"  It  has  exclusively  a  reference  to  the  aids  of  the 
holy  spirit,  which  are  never  withheld  for  the  furtherance  in  all  goodness, 
the  effect  being  dependent  on  our  improvement  of  them.  But  in  respect 
to  temporal  mercies,  the  submission  cannot  be  too  unreserved,  especially 


402  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

as  we  know  not  how  far  the  denial  of  them  may  be  for  our  greater  good ; 
and  whether,  under  the  appearances  of  •'  bread  or  of  a  fish,"  we  may  not 
be  asking  "  for  a  stone  or  for  a  serpent."  This  act  of  submission  will 
help  to  the  erecting  of  a  barrier  against  intrusive  thoughts. 
^,  Far  from  us  be  the  unauthorized  expectation  entertained  by  some,  of 
an  emotion  in  the  mind,  construed  to  be  evidence  of  the  granting  of  the 
prayer.  The  looking  out  for  this  has  a  tendency  to  the  wandering,  for 
which  the  present  exercise  is  intended  to  be  a  corrective.  Such  supposed 
evidence  has  been  incitement  to  crimes  of  the  deepest  die.  Indepen- 
dently on  this,  if  it  be  looked  to  in  any  concern,  subjected  rather  to  dis- 
cretion, governing  itself  by  existing  circumstances,  it  may  lead  to  much 
error  in  conduct.  It  has  also  the  danger  attendant  on  it  that  the  peti- 
tioner can  never  know  in  what  degree  his  wishes  may  have  insensibly 
caused  the  results  for  which  he  believes  himself  to  have  looked  for  a  di- 
vine determination.  So  far  as  I'egards  those  sacred  influences,  which 
maintain  the  mind  in  a  frame  the  most  favourable  to  the  operations  of  the 
reasoning  faculty,  there  will  always  be  a  call  for  prayer,  and  always  bene- 
fit derivable  from  it. 

It  will  be  no  small  help,  sometimes,  to  bring  the  delinquency  in  ques- 
tion before  God,  in  prayer,  with  penitence  specially  directed  to  the  ob- 
ject. The  being  aware  of  the  penalty  will  be  a  check  to  the  incurring 
"of  it. 

In  aid  of  all  these  expedients,  desirable  fruit  will  result  from  them  if 
we  should  be  thereby  led  to  humble  ourselves  in  our  own  eyes,  there 
being  thus  manifested  to  us  the  heavy  drawback  from  our  attainments 
whatever  they  may  be  ;  and  even  if  these  be  not  overrated,  the  impress- 
ing on  us  of  the  counsel — "  when  ye  have  done  all,  say  we  are  unprofita- 
ble servants." 

Gracious  Father,  from  whom  all  holy  desires,  all  good  counsels,  and 
all  just  works  proceed,  enable  us  always  to  address  thee  under  the  influ- 
ence of  these  cautions,  however  imperfectly  displayed;  and  from  my 
mouth  may  they  may  be  profitable  to  others,  as  occasions  may  occur  for 
the  presenting  of  them.     Amen.  W.  W. 

[The  Protestant  Efiscopalian,  vol.  7,  p.  274.     July  1836.] 


APPENDIX.  403 

XI. 

(Page  290  ante.) 

LETTERS  OF  PASTORAL  ADVICE,  ETC. 

Letter  to  W.  S. :  intended  to  remove  his  scruples  about  attending  the 
worship  of  the  Church,  because,  as  he  thought,  so  many  of  her  mem- 
bers were  vain,  luxurious,  attending  theatres  and  other  public 
amusements,  <^c. 

March  24,  1808. 
Dear  Sir : 

I  thank  you  for  the  small  book  and  pamphlet  which  you  enclosed  to 
me.  In  regard  to  the  letter  accompanying  them,  I  will  take  occasion  to 
make  a  few  remarks,  dictated  by  sincerity  and  affection  ;  such  as  those 
under  the  influence  of  which  I  believe  the  letter  to  have  been  written. 

You  declare  yourself  much  discouraged  by  the  lukewarm,  careless, 
light,  vain  and  proud  conduct  of  many  of  our  church  people.  That  there 
is,  and  always  was,  too  much  lukewarraness,  carelessness,  levity,  vanity 
and  pride,  is  a  mournful  fact :  but  why  it  should  discourage  us  in  the 
practice  of  our  religious  duties,  I  do  not  perceive.  On  the  contrary 
such  qualities  are  so  unamiable  in  themselves,  and  so  fruitful  of  evil  con- 
sequences, that  the  view  of  them  in  others  ought  rather  to  animate  us  to 
whatsoever  things  are  lovely  and  of  good  report. 

When  you  intimate  that  your  disapproving  of  these  evil  things  men- 
tioned above  has  subjected  you  to  abuse  from  the  pulpit,  I  am  confident 
that  you  are  mistaken.  From  what  passed  between  us  the  other  day,  I 
know  that  I  am  not  the  preacher  meant ;  but  when  I  recollect  that  I  have 
been  understood  from  the  pulpit  as  alluding,  sometimes  to  events,  and 
sometimes  to  persons  of  whom  I  had  never  heard,  I  am  the  more  inclined 
to  doubt  of  the  fact  in  regard  to  you  ;  especially  as  there  is  no  one  of 
the  clergy  whom  I  suppose  capable  of  intending  such  a  thing.  I  am 
confirmed  in  my  opinion  on  this  point,  by  finding  that  your  disapproving 
of  midnight  frolics  and  vain  follies  is  among  the  grounds  of  offence  sup- 
posed to  be  taken  against  you.  Surely  no  one  who  wishes  to  retain 
even  the  title  of  Christian  would  find  fault  with  you  for  this.  It  is  indeed 
to  be  remembered  that  much  depends  on  the  use  of  these  words  ;  and 
that  actions  appear  incorrect  or  the  contrary,  according  to  the  names 
which  we  annex  to  them.  For  instance,  it  has  probably  happened  to  us 
both,  that  however  reluctant  we  are  to  be  out  of  our  own  homes  at  a 
late  hour,  or  even  to  eat  a  supper  (for  this  is  the  case  with  me),  we 
have  been  detained  by  complaisance  against  our  inclinations,  in  houses 


404  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

in  which  either  the  want  of  exertion  in  servants,  or  the  want  of  manage- 
ment in  their  employers,  has  made  it  almost  or  quite  midnight  before  the 
refreshment  has  been  ended.  Now,  on  such  an  occasion,  supposing  the 
conversation  to  be  innocent,  it  would  be  injustice  to  accuse  us  of  having 
been  in  a  midnight  frolic.  I  am  persuaded  you  think  with  me  in  this 
instance,  liut  then  the  question  occurs  whether  it  be  possible  if,  under 
that  name,  licentiousness  or  profaneness  were  understood,  any  clergy- 
man should  attack  you  for  your  abhorrence  of  it  from  the  pulpit ;  so  as 
to  discourage  you  (for  this  you  say  is  the  case)  from  attending  your 
place  of  public  worship. 

There  is  an  expression  in  this  part  of  your  letter,  which  I  take  notice 
of,  as  objecting  not  to  the  thing  itself,  but  to  the  comparison  implied  in 
it.  I  mean  where  your  opposing  of  vanity  in  high  places  is  mentioned 
as  another  offence  on  your  part.  Our  testimonies  ought  to  be  against 
vanity,  properly  understood,  whether  in  high  places  or  in  low  :  but  I 
declare  to  you  I  have  always  found  it  difficult  to  determine  to  what 
spheres  of  life  the  greater  measures  of  it  are  to  be  assigned.  Those 
persons  who  are  most  in  the  public  eye  discover  to  it  more  of  their 
characters,  whether  good  or  bad,  than  others  who  are  less  observed ; 
and  although  this  is  a  ground  of  affectionate  exhortation  where  good 
example"  is  the  object,  yet  it  is  no  test  of  truth  where  a  comparative 
estimate  is  undertaken.  If  you  doubt  of  the  correctness  of  my  senti- 
ments on  this  point,  I  beg  you  to  consult  those  of  our  fellow  citizens 
whose  official  stations  have  drawn  their  attention  to  the  events  which 
take  place  in  gaming  houses  and  in  brothels  ;  and  inquire  of  them  what 
are  the  descriptions  of  persons  to  whom  the  foulest  licentiousness  is  to 
be  attributed.  Now,  although  the  result  of  the  inquiries  will  be  far  from 
honourable  either  to  the  high  or  to  the  low,  yet  you  will  find  criminality 
more  equally  divided  among  them  than  you  would  otherwise  have  ima- 
gined. 

You  say  that  if  you  and  your  children  are  to  attend  a  house  of  folly, 
it  is  best  for  you  both  never  to  enter  into  the  house  of  God.  That  any 
one  requires  either  you  or  your  family  to  do  the  former  cannot  be  sup- 
posed, although  the  words  strictly  taken  imply  as  much.  But  I  rather 
suppose  that  tlie  attendance  of  other  people  on  such  houses  is  an  hin- 
drance to  your  worsliipping  with  them.  If  I  am  right  in  this  conjec- 
ture, I  must  take  the  liberty  to  say  that  the  sentiment  is  very  unevan- 
gelical.  In  the  epistles  of  the  apostles  to  the  churches  you  will  find 
faults  reproved  ;  but  no  where  an  injunction  to  the  innocent  to  desist 
from  worshipping  with  the  offenders.  Our  Saviour's  parable  of  the 
tares  should  for  ever  prevent  such  a  consequence  of  disapprobation  of 
what  is  really  evil  in  others  ;  and  if  so,  how  much  more  strongly  does 
his  injunction  apply  to  cases  of  a  doubtful  nature,  if  such  should  make  a 
part  of  your  meaning  under  the  expression  cited.  In  order  to  strengthen 
my  opinion  in  regard  to  social  worship,  I  will  suggest  to  you  a  hint, 
founded  on  my  own  experience.     I  suppose  that  to  the  faults  which  you 


APPENDIX.  405 

have  observed  in  some  of  the  members  of  our  church,  such  as  pride, 
vanity,  &,c.,  you  will  admit  of  others  equally  disgraceful  to  the  Christian 
profession,  as  lying-,  overreaciiing  and  many  others.  Now  I  suppose 
you  to  be  acquainted  with  some  conscientious  members  of  all  the  different 
religious  societies  in  this  city.  Fnid  out  from  these,  which  I  think  you 
easily  may,  without  asking  for  names,  whether  there  are  not  some  of 
their  respective  communions  whom  they  hold  to  be  guilty  of  some  one 
or  more  of  the  catalogue  of  crimes.  If  your  experience  should  agree 
with  mine,  the  answer  will  be  in  the  afRrmative.  Is  it  not  evident  then 
that  if  this  is  to  operate  to  the  exclusion  of  the  sincere,  there  must  be 
an  end  of  Christian  communion  ;  which  yet  you  acknowledo-e,  notwith- 
standing this  stumbling  block,  to  have  been  one  of  the  sweetest  conso- 
lations of  your  life  ;  and  which  is  also  a  duly  from  which  you  cannot  be 
released  by  an  observance  of  the  faults  and  deficiencies  of  others]  And 
let  it  be  remembered  that  in  the  noting  of  these  we  are  always  in  danger 
of  exciting  in  ourselves  a  self-righteous  spirit.  The  Scriptures  so  abound 
with  cautions  on  the  subject  of  censure,  that  I  cannot  suppose  you  igno- 
rant of  them  :  and  I  refer  to  them,  not  as  charging  you  with  proneness  to 
such  a  spirit  (for  I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  your  habits  of 
life  to  justify  such  a  charge,  and  indeed  have  never  supposed  any  thino- 
of  you  but  what  was  to  your  advantage) ;  yet  such  is  the  weakness  of 
human,  nature,  that  I  know  of  no  one  point  on  which  you  and  I,  and  all 
the  world,  are  so  much  in  danger  of  not  knowing  what  manner  of  spirit 
we  are  of. 

In  the  book  you  sent  me  I  find  many  truly  valuable  things.  I  take  it 
to  have  been  written  by  the  celebrated  Miss  Hannah  More  ;  and  I  hope 
you  will  submit  to  her  authority,  when  I  remind  you  of  its  never  havin"- 
occurred  to  her  that  the  delinquencies  of  which  she  complains,  as  pre- 
valent  in  the  fashionable  world,  ought  so  to  operate  on  the  minds  of 
others  as  to  prevent  their  joining  with  the  delinquents  in  the  common 
worship  of  the  church. 

Still  I  must  take  tlie  liberty  of  remarking,  concerning  this  excellent 
woman,  that  not  content  with  exhibiting  irreligion  and  vice  in  their  proper 
colour,  she  has  gone  further  than  truth  warrants  in  comparing  the  present 
times  with  the  past.  I  find  nothing  of  this  sort  in  the  Scriptures  as  ap- 
plicable to  the  age  in  which  they  were  delivered  ;  but  am  persuaded 
there  is  hardly  a  subsequent  age  in  which  I  could  not  produce  you  some 
Christian  writers  as  praising  former  times,  with  the  view  of  setting  up 
faults  of  their  own  in  the  stronger  point  of  view,  in  the  manner  of  Miss 
Hannah  More.  I  will  content  myself  with  one  instance  of  her  error  in 
this  matter.  In  page  18  she  mentions  some  great  names  as  advo- 
cates for  Christianity  in  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Stuarts  :  evi- 
dently contrasting  those  days  with  the  present  age,  which  however  has 
produced  professors  and  writers  equally  able  and  honourable  in  the  same 
cause.  And  in  this  very  page  she  is  so  inconsistent  as  to  insert  a  note 
2k 


406  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

to  the  honour  of  Lord  Somers,  for  maintaining  his  profession  of  religion 
at  a  period  when  it  was  most  discountenanced;  evidently  alluding  to  the 
licentious  reign  of  Charles  II. :  whereas  no  one  will  say  (for  you  must 
remember  she  is  speaking  of  England)  that  it  is  discountenanced  in  the 
court  of  George  III.  ;  however  many  there  may  be  there,  as  elsewhere, 
by  whom  it  is  not  sufficiently  honoured  and  obeyed.  In  regard  to  the 
luxury  of  England,  when  I  read  that  in  former  ages  the  very  travelling 
of  the  court  was  generally  marked  by  a  consumption  of  all  the  provisions 
of  the  counties  through  which  it  passed ;  and  further,  of  the  gorman- 
dizing feasts  of  the  barons  in  their  castles  :  although  I  am  far  from  ima- 
gining that  such  records  justify  excess  in  any  shape,  yet  I  think  that,  as 
lovers  of  truth,  we  should  look  out  for  better  examples  than  the  practice 
of  those  days  for  the  discountenancing  of  luxury.  I  forbear  to  mention 
the  successive  scenes  of  treachery  and  murder  of  which  the  history  of 
England  is  full ;  and  which  surely  will  not  be  pretended  to  be  equalled 
in  this  country  by  any  thing  of  the  present  day,  or  of  some  ages  past. 

I  suppose  that  your  sending  of  the  pamphlet,  with  the  extracts  cen- 
suring plays,  was  in  consequence  of  our  late  conversation  :  I  will  there- 
fore take  occasion  to  repeat  what  I  then  said. 

I  have  always  considered  a  theatre  as  having  a  tendency  to  dissolute- 
ness of  manners  ;  not  only  in  consequence  of  the  profane  and  the  inde- 
cent expressions  used  occasionally  ;  but  because,  in  many  plays,  vice  is 
exhibited  in  alliance  with  the  more  captivating  qualities.  This,  we  hear, 
is  the  abuse,  and  cannot  hold  against  the  thing  itself.  But  it  being  an 
abuse  which  has  existed  at  all  times;  and  which,  according  to  my  appre- 
hension, will  always  attend  a  public  stage  ;  I  despair  of  its  being  other- 
wise, in  its  general  tendency,  than  promotive  of  vice.  It  is  evident,  this 
does  not  hinder  but  that  some  plays  may  be  (as  they  actually  are)  inno- 
cent, and  even  instrumental  to  morals.  When,  therefore,  I  find  men  of 
unquestionable  Christian  character,  for  instance  Mr  Addison  and  Dr 
Young,  writing  plays,  I  judge  their  opinion  to  be  different  from  mine, 
not  on  the  nature  of  virtue  and  vice,  but  on  the  question,  whether  the 
stage  can  be  so  regulated  as  not  to  be  injurious  to  morals.  Under  this 
view  of  the  subject,  I  would  recommend  to  every  man,  to  testify  his  dis- 
approbation of  the  licentious  tendency  of  the  theatre,  by  abstaining  from 
going  there.  But  I  would  not  make  this  an  essential  of  church  commu- 
nion, were  it  in  my  power  to  do  so  :  and  much  less,  it  not  being  an  arti- 
cle of  church  communion,  would  I  endeavour  to  enforce  my  opinion, 
otherwise  than  by  argument.  As  to  the  injury  to  people's  circumstances 
from  the  expense,  although  this  was  mentioned  by  you  in  conversation, 
I  consider  it  as  foreign  to  the  subject.  Both  you  and  I  indulge  our  fa- 
milies, I  hope  innocently,  in  some  enjoyments  which  would  be  criminal 
in  many  others  who  have  less  means.  You  alluded,  as  the  fruit  of  extra- 
vagance, to  the  sale  of  sonie  person's  furniture,  looking-glasses,  &c.,  at 
the  house,  by  vendue.  Extravagance  is  a  great  sin  ;  but  what  is  extra- 
vagance depends  on  circumstances.     It  is,  in  itself,  innocent  to  have  a 


APPENDIX.  407 

looking-glass ;  but  none  have  a  right  to  purchase  it  at  the  expense  of 
others. 

But  there  are  some  parts  of  your  letter  which  suggest  to  me  to  consi- 
der— How  is  a  man  to  regulate  his  family  in  this  matter  1  In  the  first 
place,  he  is  to  give  them,  as  far  as  he  can,  just  sentiments  on  the  subject  ; 
taking  care  to  distinguish  between  what  is  sinful  in  itself,  and  what  be- 
comes so  by  abuse.  And  in  the  next  place,  if  he  cannot  wean  them 
from  a  curiosity  to  be  present  now  and  then  at  such  exhibitions  as  have 
no  vicious  tendency  in  themselves,  it  is  much  better  for  them  that  this 
should  happen  under  his  knowledge,  than  that  they  should  go  clandes- 
tinely, as  is  the  case  with  young  people  of  hundreds  of  families  in  this 
city,  or  else  be  looking  forward  to  the  time  when,  in  all  probability, 
being  disengaged  from  parental  restraint,  they  will  indulge  without  mea- 
sure, and  without  distinction  between  the  innocent  and  the  mischievous  ; 
of  which  also  there  is  a  multitude  of  instances  around  us. 

The  sentiments  of  the  authoress  of  the  book  you  sent  me,  could  not  have 
been  very  different  from  mine.  That  she  must  have  held  the  theatre  to 
have  a  general  bad  tendency,  I  think  probable  from  the  tenor  of  her  writ- 
ing. But  that  she  could  not  have  considered  a  going  there  as  an  abso- 
lute renunciation  of  the  Christian  character,  is  evident  from  this  ;  that  in 
the  very  part  of  the  book  where  she  is  enumerating  amusements  which 
she  saw  in  that  light,  there  is  entire  silence  on  this  point ;  which  is  not  of 
so  little  notoriety,  as  that  it  could  have  escaped  her  recollection. 

But  to  proceed  to  your  pamphlet.  I  have  frequently  heard  of  the  au- 
thor, but  never  before  read  any  thing  from  his  pen.  Some  of  the  extracts 
are  what  I  have  seen  in  other  compilations  of  the  same  sort.  But  there 
is  one  extract,  I  mean  that  from  Archbishop  Tillotson,  which  surprised 
me.  The  passage  being  familiar  to  my  mind,  I  perceived  that  it  must  be 
misquoted,  and  was  confirmed  in  this  by  turning  to  the  sermon  of  which 
it  is  part.  Believe  me,  sir,  I  had  rather  go  to  fifty  plays  (supposing  a 
choice  of  the  performers)  than  be  guilty  of  such  a  pious  fraud :  for  such 
it  is,  unless  on  supposition  of  carelessness  ;  to  which  I  impute  it,  on  ac- 
count of  the  good  character  of  the  author. 

An  injudicious  advocate  often  does  his  cause  more  injury  than  service  : 
and  this  remark  applies  to  many  of  the  extracts  before  me.  On  the  ex- 
tract from  Dr  Cave,  a  well  informed  advocate  for  the  theatre,  I  would 
remark,  that  the  feasts  of  the  heathen  were  accompanied  by  superstitious 
rites  in  honour  of  their  gods,  and  that  their  public  games  were  at  the 
expense  of  human  blood  ;  and  that  therefore  the  conduct  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  in  that  matter,  was  no  precedent  against  modern  plays.  The 
extract  from  Archbishop  Usher  evidently  applies  to  immodest  plays 
only :  and  that  from  Chief  Justice  Hale  is,  as  plainly  as  language  can 
mako  it,  against  excess  in  this  and  other  kinds  of  relaxation  ;  applying 
as  strongly  to  a  tavern  as  to  a  playhouse.  The  publisher  was  particu- 
larly unlucky  in  stumbling  on  the  authority  of  such  a  man  as  Pascal ;  an 
sscellent  person  indeed ;  but  by  some  unhappy  bias,  esteeming  every 


408  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

thing  sinful  which  drew  him  off  from  contemplation  ;  to  prevent  which, 
he  always  wore  next  his  skin  an  implement  of  self  punishment.  Accor- 
dingly, it  is  evident,  that  what  is  quoted  from  Pascal  applies  not  more 
to  diversions,  thongh  he  may  speak  of  them,  than  to  the  common  cases 
of  worldly  employments  and  prospects. 

Thus  I  have  hastily  set  down  the  sentiments  which  occurred  to  me  on 
reading  your  letter,  and  the  books  accompanying  it.     I  have  been  much 
longer  than  I  intended,  and  therefore  now  conclude  myself,  with  best 
wishes  for  your  spiritual  guidance  and  your  happiness  of  every  sort. 
Yours,  very  affectionately, 

Wm  white. 


Three  Letters  to  Mrs ,  in  distress  of  mind  (at  two  periods)  in 

consequence  of  the  persuasion   of  having  received  a   divine  call, 
through  an  impression  on  her  mind,  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

Philadelphia,  August  27,  l&ll. 
Dear  Madam  : 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  18th  instant,  and  shall  be  much 
pleased  if  any  thing  to  be  said  by  me  can  in  any  degree  give  relief  to 
your  mind  under  its  present  difficulty ;  although,  indeed,  all  that  I  can 
say  will  amount  to  no  more  than  the  directing  of  you  to  the  infallible 
Word,  which  has  given  all  needful  instruction  on  the  subject  on  which 
you  write. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  hardly  any  thing  clearer  in  the  Scriptures 
than  the  account  which  they  give  of  what  things  are  and  of  what  are 
not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  holy  spirit.  As  to  our  Saviour's  design  in 
the  promise  to  his  disciples,  fulfilled  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  whole 
history  shows  that  it  related  to  an  extraordinary  dispensation,  demonstrated 
by  the  gift  of  tongues  and  other  miraculous  endowments.  But  were  there 
no  holy  and  good  persons  before  the  day  of  Pentecost  1  And  if  there 
were,  could  they  have  been  so  without  the  grace  of  God  ?  It  is  easy  to 
see  how  these  questions  are  to  be  answered.  Now,  setting  aside  these 
extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  you  will  not  find  a  single  place  in  Scrip- 
ture in  which  there  is  attributed  to  him  any  thing  further  than  the  dispo- 
tions  of  the  mind,  which  are  essentially  good  and  virtuous.  .  I  will 
mention  two  texts  in  particular — Galatians  v.  22,  and  Ephesians  v.  9. 

It  is  evident  that  no  desire  to  abound  in  such  dispositions  as  the  above, 
and  no  thoughts  presenting  themselves  to  that  effect,  can  give  distur- 
bance. All  thoughts  which  produce  this  are  from  some  other  cause. 
What  that  may  be,  it  is  not  always  easy  to  say.  It  is  at  least  sometimes 
owinor  to  a  disordered!  state  of  the  humours  of  the  body.  Be  the  cause 
what  it  may,  I  should  suppose  that  when  the  understanding  is  convinced 
of  there  being  no  connexion  of  such  intrusive  suggestions  with  real  reli- 
gion, efforts  may  be  made  for  the  repelling  of  them.     And  such  efforts 


APPENDIX.  409 

we  may  reasonably  hope  to  be  successful,   under  the  divine  blessing; 
which,  no  doubt,  ought  to  be  at  all  times  and  fervently  implored. 

If  no  imaginations  of  the  mind,  besides  those  immediately  tending  to 
virtue  and  goodness,  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  much  less  are 
any  which  impel  to  any  thing  wrong,  or  draw  off  from  any  duty.  I  will 
not  suppose  that  this  remark  can  be  applicable  to  you,  any  further  than  as 
such  a  state  of  mind  may  be  in  danger  of  interfering  with  your  domestic 
duties.  And  even  if  these  should  be  performed,  so  far  as  exterior  ar- 
rangement  is  concerned,  yet  if  you  should  be  rendered  a  less  eligible 
companion  in  wedlock,  this  itself  would  be  sufficient  evidence  of  the 
misnaming  as  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  what  is  in  direct  contrariety  to  it. 

I  presume  that  in  your  reading,  and  even  within  your  short  experience 
in  life,  you  must  have  become  informed  of  much  absolute  wickedness 
which  has  been  perpetrated,  and  of  many  extravagant  and  ridiculous  pro- 
jects which  have  been  engaged  in,  merely  from  the  notion  that  an  extra- 
ordinary impression  on  the  mind  must  be  from  God.  But  such  an  im- 
pression  is  as  much  a  warrant  to  one  person  as  to  another.  And  therefore 
there  is  no  way  of  escaping  the  very  worst  of  the  consequences,  but  to 
consider  it  all  as  delusion.  So  far  as  we  feel  our  minds  conformed  to 
the  holy  requisitions  of  the  Gospel,  or  any  drawing  in  us  to  the  same,  we 
can  never  err  in  ascribing  it,  with  all  gratitude,  to  the  grace  of  God.  In 
regard  to  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  we  act  agreeably  to  his  will  when, 
in  subserviency  to  religious  ends,  we  are  regulated  by  that  rational  na- 
ture which  also  is  a  gift  from  him.  What  cannot  be  reduced  to  one  or 
the  other  of  these  standards,  must  be  error. 

With  my  respectful  compliments  to  Mr ,  I  remain,  dear  madam, 

your  obedient  humble  servant, 

Wm  WHITE. 

September  30,  1811. 
My  Dear  Madam : 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  9th  instant,  with  sincere  sorrow  for 
the  state  of  mind  which  dictated  it,  yet  with  hope  that  it  has  not  pro- 
ceeded to  the  extent  of  precluding  the  exercise  of  your  judgment,  which 
I  am  sure,  if  permitted  to  govern,  will  counteract  your  feelings. 

I  hesitate  not  to  give  my  decided  opinion,  that  your  ideas  of  duty,  in 
the  instances  stated  by  you,  are  delusive  ;  and  my  reasons  are  as  follows  : 

You  will  not  find  an  instance  in  the  New  Testament  of  a  woman's 
being  called  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel.  Here  a  distinction  should  be 
taken  between  this  and  the  exercise  of  supernatural  gifts  in  the  Gospel 
age,  agreeably  to  the  prophecy  in  Joel  ii.  28,  29.  And  that  this  was 
carried  into  effect  in  some  instances,  although  at  that  period  only,  ap- 
pears from  a  few  places,  especially  the  2d  chapter  of  the  First  Epis- 
tle to  the  Corinthians.  In  regard  to  the  ordinary  ministry,  and  in  suc- 
ceeding times,  how  happened  it  that  both  St  Paul  and  St  Peter,  who  give 
instructions  concerning  ministerial  dutv,  and  of  whom  the  former  speaks 
2  K* 


410  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

mucli  of  ministerial  qualification,  never  express  themselves  in  such  terms 
as  give  the  idea  of  female  associates  in  that  vocation  1  St  Paul,  in  the 
very  epistle  (ch.  xiv.  34)  in  which  he  regulates  the  exercise  of  superna- 
tural gifts  in  both  sexes,  yet,  with  an  iniplied  reservation  of  that  case, 
prohibits  female  preaching.  I  am  aware  of  the  turn  given  to  this,  of  its 
merely  forbidding  impertinent  talking  and  questioning.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent, in  the  connexion,  that  the  apostle's  precepts  rested  on  ground 
peculiar  to  the  sex ;  and  therefore  cannot  allude  to  what  would  be  impro- 
per in  either  man  or  woman.  The  same  sentiment  is  repeated  in  1 
Tim.  ii.  11. 

There  may  be  use  in  sustaining  the  sentiment,  by  reference  to  a  reli- 
gious society  among  us,  in  which  there  are  many  respectable  people,  and 
among  them  connexions  of  your  own.  Their  principle  is  precisely  that 
of  a  motion  in  the  mind  of  the  party,  whether  m|in  or  woman,  impelling 
him  or  her  to  the  office  of  a  preacher.  In  the  infancy  of  this  society,  the 
principle  was  strictly  adhered  to.  But  after  the  day  of  George  Fox,  the 
disorders  occasioned  by  it,  which,  under  his  eye,  are  said  to  have  been 
very  great,  rose  to  such  a  height  that  the  society  found  themselves  under 
the  necessity  of  instituting  an  order  of  elders,  without  whose  sanction  no 
member,  though  of  good  standing,  should  be  permitted  to  exercise  the 
ministry.  You  will  find  this  matter  sufficiently  stated  in  a  late  work, 
composed  with  a  view  favourable  to  the  society,  and  in  high  esteem  with 
them — "Clarkson's  Portraiture,"  under  the  head  of"  Religion,"  chapters 
10  and  11.  Mr  Clarkson  says  that  this  regulation  took  place  "  out  of 
imperious  necessity."  But  how  can  there  be  what  the  individual  is  au- 
thorized to  consider  a  divine  impulse,  over  which,  however,  there  must 
be  an  exterior  control,  to  prevent  its  being  extravagant  in  the  extreme  1 

To  show  you  to  what  lengths  such  notions  may  proceed,  I  will  re- 
mind, or  inform  you,  that  history  abounds  with  narratives  of  the  most 
shocking  effects  produced  by  a  full  persuasion  of  the  mind  that  it  was 
actuated  by  divine  impulse.  I  will  mention  two  instances.  One  is  that 
of  the  Anabaptists  in  Germany,  soon  after  the  reformation.  From  what 
I  have  read  of  these  people,  I  fully  believe  that  they  thought  themselves 
commissioned  to  abolish,  by  violence,  the  tenures  by  which  property  was 
held.  The  other  is  that  of  Venner,  and  upwards  of  one  hundred  asso- 
ciates, who,  soon  after  the  restoration  in  1660,  and  in  consequence  of 
what  they  thought  a  divine  call,  sallied  out  under  arms  in  the  streets  of 
London,  in  order  to  give  a  beginning  to  the  personal  reign  of  Christ  on 
earth  :  that  being  the  time  when  they  expected  it  was  immediately  to  take 
place.  This  mad  project  they  attempted  in  the  face  of  a  veteran  army, 
who  soon  cut  them  to  pieces.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  these  things  are 
irrelevant  to  the  case  of  a  person  who  aims  at  nothing  contrary  to  morals 
or  to  law.  They  go  to  show  that  the  principle  itself  is  delusive,  although 
it  should  produce  absurdity  only,  and  not  crime. 

But,  both  crime  and  absurdity  out  of  view,  a  serious  question  arises  as 
to  the  dereliction  of  duty.     When  St  Paul  instructed  married  women 


APPENDIX.  411 

(1  Timothy  v.  14)  to  "  guide  the  house,"  and  (Titus  ii.  4)  to  "  love  their 
husbands  and  their  children,"  he  delivered  duties  from  which  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  recognized  a  dispensation  in  a  call  to  leave  both  husband 
and  children  in  order  to  preach  the  Gospel.  And  that  these  two  matters 
may  materially  interfere,  hardly  requires  a  proof. 

I  have  a  few  remarks  to  make  on  your  citation  of  Matthew  x.  37,  38. 

First,  the  question  at  present  is  of  the  reality  of  your  call ;  and  not  of 
what  would  be  your  duty  on  the  presumption  of  it.  Next,  read  over  the 
chapter,  and  remark  the  unequivocal  evidence  contained  in  it  of  the  ex- 
cessive pertinency  of  the  instructions  to  the  crisis  of  the  first  propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel.  And  again,  revolve  the  whole  series  of  what  is  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament,  and  consider  whether  there  be  a  single 
instance  of  a  person  called  to  the  ministry,  of  whom  it  does  not  appear, 
from  circumstances,  that  he  received  the  commission  immediately  from 
Jesus  Christ,  in  his  bodily  shape  on  earth,  or  from  his  apostles,  either 
immediately  or  in  succession,  instead  of  under  an  impulse  of  the  mind. 

I  have  given  you,  dear  madam,  my  objections  to  the  erroneous  senti- 
ment resting  on  your  conscience.  Earnestly  recommending  a  resistance 
of  it,  and  with  my  prayers  that  it  may  be  with  effect,  I  remain,  with  my 

respectful  compliments  to  your  mother  and  to  Mr , 

Your  affectionate,  humble  servant, 

Wm  white. 

Philadelphia,  August  2,  1819. 
My  Dear  Madam  : 

Your  late  letter  to  your  mother  has  been  communicated  by  her  to  me  ; 
and  it  has  given  me  grief  to  find  that  you  are  revisited  by  an  affliction 
which  gave  the  occasion  to  our  former  correspondence.  It  is  your  wish 
that  I  would  again  address  a  letter  to  you.  I  cannot  decline  compliance  ; 
although  I  can  do  no  more  than  repeat  the  sentiments  formerly  expressed. 
My  doubts  of  being  of  service  to  you  at  present  arise,  not  from  my  pre- 
suming that  my  former  communications  had  not  some  little  beneficial 
operation,  but  from  the  persuasion  that  it  must  have  been  formerly,  and 
with  the  hope  that  it  may  be  again,  after  the  ceasing  of  a  bodily  disorder 
with  which  you  were  then,  and  I  am  persuaded  are  now,  afflicted. 

I  could  astonish  you  with  details  of  cases  which  have  come  under  my 
observation  of  the  effects  of  the  nervous  system  in  disorder,  not  only  in 
fanciful  opinions,  but  in  the  affirming  of  unfounded  facts.  Let  there  be 
given  a  single  case  as  a  specimen.  In  an  early  period  of  my  ministry 
there  applied  to  me  a  man  with  unequivocal  marks  of  horror  of  con- 
science  ;  the  result,  he  said,  of  the  sinful  state  in  which  he  was  living ; 
having  at  present  a  wife  who  was  a  pious  and  virtuous  woman,  but  not 
knowing  that  his  former  wife  was  living  in  a  distant  country.  There  is 
no  need  to  trouble  you  with  all  that  passed  between  us.  Suffice  it  to 
state  that  the  man  died  a  few  months  afterwards  in  a  very  happy  state  of 
mind.     The  day  before  his  death  I  administered  to  him  the  communion  ; 


412  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

his  wife,  a  communicant  of  the  Lutheran  church,  receiving  with  him. 
He  confessed  the  delusion  of  his  former  statements  ;  and  I  found  the 
truth  of  the  story  to  be,  that  his  first  wife  had  left  him  with  a  soldier  in 
the  seven  years  war,  had  gone  to  the  country  mentioned  by  him,  and 
was  known  to  have  died  there.  My  supposition  is,  that  his  nervous 
system  being  disordered,  from  some  cause  unconnected  with  his  former 
wife,  the  unhappiness  of  the  recollected  crisis  returned  on  him,  when 
destitute  of  such  a  self-possession  as  to  admit  of  distinguishing  between 
reality  and  the  visions  of  the  imagination. 

In  this  narrative  you  will  discern  many  points  materially  different 
from  your  case.  I  claim  one  point  only  in  which  they  agree.  It  is, 
that  a  nervous  disorder  has  revived  in  your  mind  a  subject  which  pressed 
on  it  in  your  days  of  freedom  from  that  complaint.  The  subject,  appear- 
ing in  your  letter  to  your  mother,  is  the  opinion  of  a  divine  call  to  be 
prominent  in  such  active  labours  for  the  extension  of  the  Gospel  as 
would  render  you  lost  to  the  duties  lying  on  you  as  a  wife  and  a  mother. 
What  those  duties  are  I  need  not  recite  ;  but  I  will  entreat  you  to  peruse 
them  with  prayer,  and  with  notice  of  their  high  sanction,  and  of  the  ex- 
plicitness  with  which  they  are  delivered. 

What  is  there  to  oppose  to  the  precepts  enjoining  those  duties'? 
There  is  an  impression  sometimes  supposed  to  be  divine.  Is  the  im- 
pression more  forcible  than  that  which  incited  the  fifth  monarchy  men 
of  England,  or  the  Anabaptists  of  Munster  to  deeds  of  blood  ]  Is  it  more 
so  than  that  which  reconciled  Cromwell  to  the  murder  of  his  king  1 
For  whatever  may  have  been  the  hypocrisy  of  his  character  in  some 
respects,  there  are  facts  which  prove  him  to  have  entertained  the  opinion 
that  there  was  a  divine  call  in  every  incitement  produced  in  his  mind 
with  power — especially  in  the  act  of  prayer  ;  and  this  was  his  plea  in 
the  case  of  the  king.  For  how  long  a  time  was  there  such  an  incite- 
ment on  the  mind  of  Ravaillac,  until  it  caused  him  to  plunge  a  dagger 
into  the  breast  of  Henry  IV.  of- France.  If  it  should  be  imagined  that 
the  assassin  was  insane,  this  is  disproved  by  the  consequent  investiga- 
tions, and  by  his  trial.  There  is  no  danger  of  such  an  issue  in  your 
case ;  because  the  incitement  will  not  take  place  but  in  harmony  with 
the  constitutional  character  of  the  party.  Still,  the  source  of  the  delu- 
sion is  the  same  as  that  which  may  be  perceived,  not  only  in  the  cases 
referred  to,  but  in  many  professors  of  religion,  who,  in  consequence  of 
natural  temper  or  of  education  or  of  counteracting  principles,  are  in  no 
danger  of  hurting  their  fellow  men  in  life  and  in  limb. 

In  the  lives  of  Mr  John  Wesley  and  of  Mr  George  Whitfield,  you  may 
perceive  much  of  their  conduct  and  of  their  preaching  to  have  been  the 
result  of  impressions  ;  which  they  acknowledged  with  grief  in  the  later 
periods  of  their  lives.  Let  there  be  only  one  fact  mentioned  of  the 
latter  of  these  gentlemen.  On  the  birth  of  a  son,  he  conceived  that  he 
had  a  divine  communication,  that  the  boy  would  be  a  conspicuous 
preacher  of  tlie  Gospel.     His  early  death  put  a  period  to  the  delusion. 


APPENDIX.  413 

Botli  of  these  men  confided  in  an  inward  call  to  preach  doctrines  di- 
rectly opposed  to  those  tauglit  by  the  people  called  Quakers ;  and  yet 
how  many  of  these  latter  carry  on  their  work,  on  the  same  persuasion  of 
immediate  illumination.  It  is  not  intended  to  speak  of  either  of  these 
descriptions  of  people  with  disrespect,  or  with  doubt  of  their  sincerity. 
But  what  a  strange  representation  do  they  conjointly  give  of  the  Divine 
Being,  as  if  his  inspiration  were  the  source  of  opposite  persuasions  re- 
spectively possessing  them,  that  there  rested  on  them  the  duty  of  tra- 
versing countries  with  conflicting  declarations  of  his  will  ! 

In  opposition  to  any  opinions  or  purposes  wiiich  may  still  disturb  you, 
in  consequence  of  impressions  supposed  to  be  made  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
I  will  briefly  state  what  I  take  to  be  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  inspira- 
tion ;  although  it  will  be  only  a  repetition  of  what  I  gave  in  a  former 
correspondence. 

Our  Saviour,  before  he  left  the  world,  gave  to  his  disciples  the  pro- 
mise of  an  extraordinary  agent,  who  should  guide  them  into  all  truth, 
and  bring  all  things  to  remembrance;  and  further,  should  endow  them 
with  power  from  on  high.  That  the  inspirations  of  this  agent  thus  pro- 
mised, are  not  the  same  as  the  teachings  of  a  monitor  alleged  to  be 
within  all  men,  is  evident  from  there  being  the  precise  date  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  former,  and  from  the  ceasing  of  their  attendant  pow- 
ers after  the  apostolic  age.  On  there  being  put  out  of  view  all  the  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  appropriate  to  this  subject,  you  will  find  none  from 
which  we  are  warranted  to  affirm  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
ourselves,  other  than  such  as  appear  in  Gal.  v.  22,  and  Ephes.  v.  9.  On 
this  ground  I  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  in  proportion  to  your  posses- 
sion of  the  graces  referred  to  in  those  passages,  and  to  the  effect  of  them 
in  your  discharge  of  your  duties  to  your  family  and  to  the  world,  you 
are  led  by  the  spirit ;  and,  on  the  otiier  hand,  that  any  opinions  which 
you  may  entertain,  not  deducible  by  reason  from  existing  circumstances, 
are  visionary  ;  and  that  if  they  lead  to  the  neglect  of  any  duty,  they  are 
sinful :  although  in  this  case  I  do  not  take  on  me  to  judge  how  far  the 
sin  may  be  lessened  by  error  or  by  prejudice.  Bodily  disease,  if  it  be 
the  sole  cause,  relieves  from  the  charge  of  sin.  What  should  be  done 
for  the  cure  of  the  last  mentioned  calamity,  I  do  not  undertake  to  pre- 
scribe.    It  falls  within  the  province  of  the  physician. 

Thus,  my  dear  madam,  I  have  complied  with  your  request ;  and  what- 
ever may  be  the  fate  of  my  sentiments  in  the  point  of  influence,  I  will 
not  doubt  of  their  being  accepted  as  evidence  of  my  good  Vv'ill.  Assuring 
you  of  my  best  wishes,  and  of  my  prayers  for  your  recovery  of  a  tranquil 

state  of  mind,  and  with  my  respectful  compliments  to  Mr ,  I  am 

Your  afl^ectionate,  humble  servant, 

Wm  WHITE. 

P.S.  While  engaged  in  writing  this  letter,  I  received  from  the  post- 
office  a  pamphlet  of  twenty-seven  pages,  addressed  to  the  president  of 


414  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

the  United  States:  detailing  to  him  the  impressions  and  tlie  visions  of 
the  writer,  one  Robert  Stokes  ;  all  of  which  he  supposes  himself  to 
have  received  from  above.  I  do  not  question  his  sincerity ;  having 
seen  so  much  of  this  sort  in  connection  with  the  full  persuasion  of  the 
party. 


Letter  to  C.  W.,  intended  also  for  J.  F.,  then  in  Harvard  University  : 
designed  to  guard  them  against  Unitarianism  and  Infidelity. 

Philadelphia,  October  25,  1822. 
My  Dear  Young  Friend  : 

I  will  not  admit  the  supposition  that  you  consider  your  temporary  dis- 
tance from  this  city  as  a  discontinuance  of  your  connection  with  the  pas- 
tor of  the  congregation  of  which  you  have  hitherto  been,  and  of  which 
all  your  ancestors  have  been  members,  ever  since  their  settlement  in 
Pennsylvania.  It  would  be  still  more  disagreeable  to  me  to  imagine, 
that  under  your  present  sensibilities,  occasioned  by  the  lamented  decease 
of  your  very  worthy  father,  the  presenting  of  religious  sentiments  to 
your  mind  will  be  thought  either  obtrusive  or  unseasonable. 

You  will  probably  suspect,  and  I  shall  not  deny,  that  I  am  the  more 
disposed  to  the  present  measure,  from  the  apprehension  that  you  may  be 
drawn  from  the  faith  of  our  Church  by  the  fashionable  cast  of  religious 
opinion  in  the  respectable  seat  of  learning  in  which  you  have  been  placed. 

As  the  gentlemen  who  govern  it  are  said  to  profess  not  to  take  mea- 
sures to  influence  the  youth  to  their  peculiar  opinions,  I  would  be  far 
from  suggesting  any  thing  to  the  contrary  :  but  I  know  that  the  effect 
may  be  produced,  incidentally,  on  those  who  are  in  the  way  of  occasion- 
ally hearing  statements  made  by  or  from  them  not  intended  for  accidental 
hearers,  but  designed  for  the  sustaining  of  their  own  doctrine. 

It  is  impossible,  that  within  the  compass  of  a  letter  I  should  go  over 
the  ground  of  controversy  between  us  and  them.  Neither  would  it  be 
proper  for  one  of  your  early  age.  But  it  will  not  be  unsuitable  to  remind 
you  of  the  faith  into  which  you  were  baptized,  agreeably  to  the  last  in- 
junction of  our  Saviour  to  his  apostles,  as  fcund  in  the  19th  verse  of  the 
20th  chapter  of  St  Matthew's  Gospel  ;  and  to  intimate  to  you  that  if,  be- 
fore your  competency  to  a  deliberate  and  unprejudiced  inquiry,  you  should 
take  up  with  any  notions  irreconcilable  to  the  clear  sense  of  that  high 
commission  under  which  the  Gospel,  as  there  directed,  has  been  preached 
to  the  world,  it  will  be  done  by  you  under  a  very  heavy  responsibility. 

Do  not  imagine  that  I  am  imposing  on  you  tiie  obligation  of  believing 
any  doctrine  on  no  other  ground  than  that  of  its  having  been  professed 
by  your  forefathers,  or  as  resting  on  any  human  authority  :  but  I  present 
to  you  as  the  dictate  of  a  sense  of  imperfection,  the  reasonableness  of 
not  being  drawn  from  any  faith  without  taking  the  means  of  satisfaction 
resulting  from  the  immense  importance  of  religious  truth  and  duty.  Un- 
der the  weight  of  this  principle,  you  will  never  permit  the  subject  to  oc- 


APPENDIX.  415 

cupy  your  mind  otherwise  tlian  in  alliance  with  sincere  desire  to  know 
the  truth,  and  with  determination  to  receive  and  to  live  agreeably  to  it 
when  known,  and  with  prayer  to  the  Source  of  light  for  dTrection  in  so 
momentous  a  concern.  For  although  you  have  no  warrant  to  look  for 
an  extraordinary  illumination  ;  yet,  so  much  are  our  judgments  influenced 
by  our  habitual  states  of  mind,  that  we  are  never  safe  from  error,  except 
when  we  possess  dispositions  assimilated  to  the  truth  ;  which  are  ascribed, 
in  Scripture,  to  a  divine  agency,  known  only  from  its  influence  on  the 
heart  and  the  life. 

I  will  freely  disclose  to  you  the  principal  heads  of  objection  pressing  on 
my  mind  against  the  Unitarian  doctrine ;  that  is,  what  is  so  called,  by 
usurpation  of  a  style  belonging  equally  to  the  faith  against  which  it  is  set 
in  opposition.  My  objections  are  the  result  of  much  reflection  and  ob- 
servation ;  not  mixed  with  hostility  to  any  individual  of  those  who  call 
themselves  Unitarians.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  some  of  them  whom 
I  respect  and  esteem. 

My  objection  against  their  construction  of  the  passages  of  Scripture  in 
the  question  between  us,  is  not  merely  that  it  is  forced  and  arbitrary,  but 
that  it  places  the  writers  of  the  Scriptures  under  the  reproach  of  laying 
snares  to  idolatry,  in  what  was  designed  by  them  for  its  overthrow :  for 
that  the  various  countries  which  received  the  Christian  revelation  consi- 
dered  it  as  embracing  the  truths  which  we  inculcate,  is  a  fact  as  well 
established  as  any  in  history.  Especially  in  the  initiatory  ordinance  of 
our  religion,  they  considered  its  being  done  in  the  words  above  referred 
to,  as  essential  to  the  validity  of  the  act.  Tliis  fact  is  evidence  ao-ainst 
the  evasion  of  the  force  of  the  words,  by  alleging  that  the  apostles  did 
not  use  the  form,  and  by  quotuig  to  that  effect  two  places  in  the  Acts, 
where  they  are  said  to  have  baptized  "  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 
In  every  writing,  the  connection  is  interpretative  of  the  sense.  Now  in 
those  two  places,  the  object  in  view  is  to  distinguish  Christian  baptism 
from  that  of  John  ;  for  which  end,  there  was  no  need  to  recite  the  pre- 
scribed  form :  from  this  there  never  was  a  departure  in  any  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  until  found  necessary  by  the  Socinians,  as  essential  to 
their  theory. 

Although  the  paramount  authority  with  us  is  that  of  Scripture,  yet  it  could 
not  have  happened  that  the  churches,  throughout  the  world,  should  have 
received  as  undoubted  truths  what  must  be  seen,  on  examination,  to  be 
not  those.  If  other  matters,  resting  on  tradition,  have  been  incorpo- 
rated  with  those  truths  ;  it  is  foreign  to  the  argument.  What  has  been 
held  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  especially  among  bodies  of  men  not 
connected  by  any  other  ties  than  unity  in  faith  and  practice,  as  was  the 
condition  of  the  Christian  church  for  some  centuries,  can  hardly  be  a 
corruption  of  the  code.  The  weight  of  this  consideration  is  entirely 
against  the  pretensions  of  what  is  called  Unitarianism  ;  and  is  additional 
proof  that,  if  this  theory  be  correct,  the  Scriptures  have  not  answered  the 
end  for  which  they  have  been  bestowed. 


416  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

For  tliis  reason,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  system  has  been 
found  to  be  an  absolute  rejection  of  revelation  :  a  point  on  which  the  less 
is  to  be  said,  as  it  cannot  be  proved  without  dragging  individual  charac- 
ters into  view.  I  believe  the  fact  to  be  as  stated,  but  must  leave  the  test 
of  it  to  personal  observation. 

Certain  it  is,  that,  so  far  as  this  has  been  exercised  by  me,  the  theory 
has  been  perceived  to  be  less  promotive  of  piety  than  its  opposite.  In 
the  investigation  of  this  there  should  be,  on  each  side,  no  consideration 
of  those,  who,  although  called  of  the  denomination,  are  notoriously  loose 
to  the  duties  of  religion.  In  regard  to  those  who  are  in  earnest,  to  bring 
into  view  particular  characters  would  be  indelicate,  and  might  be 
traced  into  uncharitableness.  It  ought  not  to  be  offensive,  in  either  of 
these  respects,  when  I  declare,  that  so  far  as  my  personal  acquaintance 
extends  there  have  not  been  observed,  in  the  contemplated  communion, 
the  like  devout  affections  to  those  which  are  known,  in  innumerable  in- 
stances, among  the  professors  of  what  I  consider  as  "  the  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints." 

While  I  entertain  a  wish  for  your  preservation  from  the  error  in  ques- 
tion, I  am  not  insensible  to  another  danger  you  may  encounter,  that  of 
being  prejudiced  against  the  Christian  religion,  by  perceiving  it  liable  to 
such  opposite  interpretation.  This  would  be  unreasonable  ;  since  the 
matter  was  unavoidable,  unless  it  had  pleased  the  Divine  Being  to  reveal 
his  will  through  some  other  medium  than  that  of  language,  or  he  had  alter- 
ed the  cast  of  the  human  understanding.  The  same  difficulty,  from  the 
same  causes,  hangs  over  human  constitutions  ;  the  essential  principles 
of  which  are  perceived  generally,  while  the  details  become  subjects  of 
litigation  :  and  this  is  precisely  the  case  with  the  Christian  revelation  ; 
unless  what  is  called  Unitarianism  be  correct;  for  then  the  Scriptures 
have  been  a  sealed  book,  to  almost  all  for  whom  they  were  designed. 

The  common  error  of  those  young  men  who  open  their  ears  to  the 
seductions  of  infidelity,  is  their  taking  up  the  objections  brought  against 
the  Christian  religion,  without  attention  to  the  positive  evidences  on 
which  it  rests.  On  this  ground,  there  is  not  a  truth  of  what  is  called 
natural  religion,  in  regard  to  which  you  may  not  be  shaken,  by  an  inge- 
nious atheist ;  and  hence  it  is  that  there  is  no  writer  against  Chris- 
tianity who  has  not  more  or  less  controverted  some  of  those  truths  which 
the  wisest  men  have  considered  to  be  impressed  in  indelible  characters 
in  the  constitution  of  things.  Therefore,  your  attention  ought  to  be 
directed  to  the  positive  evidence  ;  and  what  I  have  to  say  on  this  point 
shall  be  principally  from  the  hope  of  its  being  remembered  by  you,  when 
approaching  to  the  time  of  life  exposed  to  the  danger  of  infidel  opinions, 
and  when  you  shall  have  laid  in  such  a  stock  of  knowledge  as  will  fit  you 
for  an  investigation  of  the  subject.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not  consider 
what  is  to  be  said  as  irrelative  to  the  more  immediate  design  of  this  letter, 
since  I  must  still  contemplate  seductions  to  infidelity  in  the  plausible 
dress  of  alleged  Unitarianism. 


APPENDIX,  417 

The  miracles  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  besides  the  usual  evidence  of 
historic  fact,  liave  had  durable  effects  on  laws  and  on  manners,  while  any 
grounds  on  which  tliey  have  been  denied  have  been  transitory  :  each  spe- 
cies  of  objection  giving-  way  to  some  other,  which  has  had  no  more  per- 
manency. The  last  ground  taken  was  that  of  David  Hume,  but  was  so 
completely  done  away  by  Dr  Campbell  of  Glasgow,  that  his  book  was 
never  replied  to  by  Hume  or  by  any  other  person.  Not  long  before,  the 
miracles  and  other  contents  of  the  Old  Testament  in  particular,  had 
been  attacked  with  ridicule  by  Voltaire,  ivho  was  as  silent  as  Hume  has 
since  been,  under  answers  promptly  made,  and  convicting  him  of  shame- 
ful error  and  misrepresentation.  Be  assured,  that  if  any  man  of  talents  of 
the  present  day  should  exercise  his  ingenuity  against  tlie  Christian  reli- 
gion, he  will  no  more  have  recourse  to  the  objections  of  Hume  and  Vol- 
taire than  they  would  have  committed  their  reputation  on  the  grounds  of 
Bolingbroke,  Shaftsbury  and  others,  or  than  those  would  have  used  the 
weapons  transmitted  to  them  by  the  heathen  philosophers  who  wrote 
soon  after  the  age  of  the  Gospel,  who  yet  were  men  of  high  literary  re- 
putation. 

The  argument  from  prophecy,  while  it  reaches  back  to  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  and  shows  innumerable  instances  of  wonderful  consent  with 
history,  calls  our  attention  to  scenes  now  existing,  such  as  the  gradual 
extension  of  the  Gospel,  tending  to  prevalence  over  the  world,  the  singu- 
lar state  of  the  Jewish  nation  and  the  land  of  their  ancient  residence,  the 
rise  and  long  duratioji  of  the  Mohammedan  and  the  papal  impostures,  and 
the  lasting  desolation  of  some  flourishing  cities,  as  those  of  Babylon  and 
Tyre. 

The  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  and  their  superiority  over  every  thing  of 
the  sort,  especially  in  their  coming  home  to  the  bosoms  of  people  in  the 
lowest  ranks,  have  been  the  theme  of  praise  with  all  who  have  at  heart 
the  moral  cultivation  of  our  species:  and  yet  they  proceeded  from  men 
who  possessed  no  such  opportunities  of  improvement  as  those  of  the  sages 
of  antiquity. 

What  adds  to  all  these  considerations,  is  evident  to  those  who  take  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  whole  volume  of  Scripture,  and  the  bearings 
of  its  several  parts  on  one  another,  who  may  perceive  a  contemplated 
chain  of  dispensations,  running  through  a  long  series  of  events,  to  be 
brought  about  by  the  virtues  of  some  men,  and  by  the  vices  of  others, 
who  lived  in  different  ages,  and  who  were  so  various  in  their  characters 
and  their  habits  that  the  issuing  in  the  known  result  is  to  be  accounted 
for  only  from  the  providence  of  God,  overruling  the  purposes  of  men,  to 
the  accomplishment  of  his  high  designs. 

It  is  related  of  that  prodigy  of  learning,  the  late  Sir  William  Jones, 

that  after  his  death  there  was  found  written  on  the  blank  leaf  of  his  Bible 

something  to  this  effect:  that  for  depth  of  knowledge,  for  sound  sense, 

for  useful  history,  for  specimens  of  the  beautiful  and  the  sublime,  and  for 

2l 


418  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

sage  instruction,  he  had  found  in  his  inquiries  nothing  comparable  to  the 
contents  of  that  book.  In  opposition  to  such  a  testimony,  like  what 
Jiad  been  given  before  him  by  a  Bacon,  a  Newton  and  a  Locke,  what 
are  the  cavils  of  such  a  sciolist  as  Thomas  Paine,  and  the  whole  herd  of 
writers  of  the  same  profane  cast  ?  And  yet  I  was  credibly  informed  in 
England  concerning  Sir  William  Jones,  that  he  went  to  India  a  sceptic, 
and  became  a  believer  in  the  Bible  by  the  discoveries  which  he  made  in 
the  east  of  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic  history  ;  and  of  this  he  has  left  evi- 
dence in  the  volumes  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  established  under  his  super- 
intendence in  Calcutta. 

On  the  mention  of  the  blasphemer  Paine  it  occurred  to  me  to  add,  that 
if  his  impieties  have  been  detailed  since  the  unanswered  exposure  made 
of  them  by  the  late  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  it  has  been  in  such  a  form  as  to 
show  them  designed,  not  for  men  of  letters,  but  for  the  canaille  of  radi- 
cals in  London  and  Westminster ;  and  hence  the  prosecutions  which  we 
read  of  at  the  present  time. 

In  your  progress  to  manhood,  you  will  occasionally  hear  religion 
treated  with  levity,  and  probably  with  profaneness  :  in  opposition  to 
which  it  will  be  well  to  have  your  attention  awake  to  the  fact,  which 
you  may  find  verified  by  your  reading  and  your  observation,  that  it  is  a 
subject  which  has  a  bearing  on  all  the  concerns  of  men.  There  will  be 
a  more  specious,  but  equally  deceptive  source  of  danger,  in  the  allegation, 
m  respect  to  the  Christian  religion,  that  your  only  concern  with  it  is  its 
morality.  In  opposition  to  this,  a  little  acquaintance  with  the  world 
may  convince  you  that  the  morality  of  the  Gospel,  when  severed  from 
its  leading  truths,  is  not  influential  in  any  considerable  degree. 

It  is  time  to  bring  this  long  letter  to  a  conclusion  ;  which  shall  be  by 
putting  up  my  prayer  to  Almighty  God  that  he  will  guide  you  into  all 
necessary  truth ;  that  he  will  preserve  you  through  the  temptations 
which  cannot  fail  to  assail  you  in  a  world  so  full  of  sin  ;  and  that  he  will 
will  fix  your  faith  on  so  firm  a  foundation  as  shall  prepare  you  to  enjoy 
with  innocency  whatever  share  you  may  possess  of  the  blessings  of  life, 
bear  with  patience  and  resignation  any  of  its  troubles  which  may  over- 
take you,  and  at  last  fit  you  for  a  better  state  of  things,  when  whatever 
concerns  the  present  shall  be  no  more.     From  yours, 

Very  affectionately, 

Wm  white. 

P.S,  You  will  probably  conjecture,  and  it  is  true,  that  I  have  written 
at  the  request  of  your  worthy  mother;  whose  concern  for  you  is  of 
course  increased  by  the  late  afflictive  dispensation,  and  whose  happiness 
IS  more  than  ever  dependent  on  what  you  are  to  be  in  future.  But  it 
could  not  escape  my  recollection  that  your  cousin,  and  fellow  student, 
ought  to  be  equally  the  object  of  my  solicitude.  On  this  account,  I 
request  you  to  communicate  to  him  what  I  have  written. 


APPENDIX.  419 

Philadelphia,  October  25,  1822. 
My  Dear  Young  Friend  : 

I  have  this  day  written  to  your  cousiq,  and  fellow  student,  a  letter 
containing  sentiments  which  I  am  desirous  of  bringing  before  your  mind 
also.  The  reason  of  their  being  addressed  to  him  in  particular  will  be 
seen  in  the  postscript  to  the  letter.  I  trust  that  they  will  be  not  the  less 
acceptable  to  you  from  their  coming  through  another,  at  a  crisis  which 
renders  him  an  especial  object  of  sympathy. 

That  your  literary  improvement  may  be  a  compensation  to  your 
worthy  mother  for  your  temporary  removal  to  such  a  distance  from  her, 
and  especially  that  your  religious  principles  and  conduct  may  not  receive 
injury  from  that  circumstance,  is  the  wish  and  prayer  of, 

Yours,  affectionately, 

Wm  white. 


Letter  to  Miss ,  with  some  Books. 

September  16, 1828. 


Dear  Miss : 

In  compliance  with  your  request,  and  conformably  to  my  promise,  I 
send  a  few  small  works  for  your  perusal.  They  contain  the  essential 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  in  a  small  compass,  and  not  carried  out  into  the 
many  metaphysical  refinements  which  have  been  the  inventions  of  men, 
and  rather  incumbrances  on  the  truth,  than  subservient  to  it. 

I  recommend  your  paying  of  particular  attention  to  the  work  of  Mr 
Scougal.  He  was  a  Scotch  divine,  when  Scotland  was  Episcopalian ; 
but,  to  the  universal  regret  of  the  then  Scotch  Church,  was  taken  .to  the 
church  in  heaven,  at  a  very  early  period  of  his  life,  and  after  having 
given  promise  of  great  usefulness,  as  well  by  his  deep  piety,  as  by  his 
extraordinary  attainments. 

You  are  welcome  to  retain  the  two  tracts  marked  1  and  2,  also  Bishop 
Mann's  Explanation  of  the  Catechism ;  as  I  have  duplicates  of  them  : 
I  think  Bishop  Mann's  work  the  best  under  its  name  within  my  know- 
ledge.    I  am 

Your  affectionate,  humble  servant, 

Wm  WHITE. 


Cautionary  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,  by  her  Pastor,  in  reference  to 
the  danger  of  being  drawn  into  the  Communion  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic Church. 

LETTER  I. 

My  Young  Friend : 

I  am  credibly  informed  of  the  endeavours  now  in  operation  to  effect 
your  conversion  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church.     It  is  my  intention  to  ad- 


420  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

dress  to  you  some  letters  tending  to  caution  you  against  such  an  issue. 
They  will  not  he  swelled  hy  argument  calling  for  a  measure  of  learning 
disproportioned  to  your  age,  r.nd  seldom  found  in  your  sex.  But  while 
they  will  be  limited  to  matters  not  requiring  the  knowledge  of  books  be- 
sides such  as  may  be  easily  consulted  by  you,  and  the  understanding  of 
which  is  not  beyond  the  attainments  of  persons  of  your  standing  in  life  ; 
I  shall  address  what  is  to  be  said  to  your  conscience,  conducting  itself 
under  the  influence  of  prayer,  and  under  a  sense  of  your  responsibility 
to  God  for  the  result. 

I  am  the  more  solicitous  to  press  this  consideration,  because  of  the 
improper  use  made  of  the  concession  of  Protestants,  of  the  possibility  of 
salvation  within  the  pale  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  This  she  affirms 
to  be  impossible,  under  the  circumstance  of  a  severance  from  her:  as  is 
at  least  implied  through  the  whole  course  of  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  is 
positively  affirmed  by  Roman  Catholic  authors  generally.  In  the  distinc- 
tion thus  made,  the  opinion  of  Protestants  has  been  misunderstood.  So 
momentous  are  some  of  the  differences  between  them  and  the  Roman 
Catholics,  that  the  latter  cannot  be  conceived  of  as  secure  against  the 
charge  of  fundamental  error,  except  by  the  extension  of  charity,  in  ten- 
derness to  long  established  error,  or  the  prejudices  of  education  :  this, 
perhaps,  considered  as  countenanced  by  St  Paul,  where  he  says,  "  the 
times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at."  But  charity  herself  cannot 
give  her  countenance  to  the  plea,  when  it  is  used  to  justify  the  giving  of 
a  sanction  to  opinions  which  strike  at  the  leading  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
in  contrariety  to  better  knowledge;  and  of  course  with  regard  to  objects 
not  to  be  pursued  consistently  with  Christian  integrity.  To  say,  that 
by  acting  on  such  a  principle  there  is  no  endangering  of  salvation,  would 
be  a  surrendry  of  the  truths  "  once  delivered  to  the  saints." 

It  will  be  to  the  purpose  to  caution  you  against  the  qualifications  of 
Roman  Catholicism,  industriously  spread  for  the  divesting  it  of  the  most 
offensive  of  its  errors.  Such  softenings,  in  countries  in  which  Roman 
Catholicism  has  an  undisputed  sway,  would  bring  the  propagators  of 
them  into  the  fangs  of  the  inquisition.  There  are  only  three  of  them 
which  shall  be  treated  of  in  the  four  following  letters.  They  are  :  the 
adoration  of  images  ;  that  offered  to  departed  saints  ;  transubstantiation  ; 
and  the  exaltation  of  the  papacy.  These  points,  however  qualified  they 
may  be  with  the  view  of  making  converts,  are  essentially  in  contrariety 
to  the  truths  of  Christianity,  and  cannot  be  conformed  to  consistently 
with  a  correct  conscience. 

With  the  design  of  addressing  you  on  these  points,  I  am, 

Your  affectionate  Pastok. 

LETTER  ir. 

My  Young  Friend : 

The  subject  of  this  letter  is  the  worship  of  images.  The  Roman  Ca- 
tholics are  industrious  in  propagating,  that  they  do  not  worship  the  wood 


APPENDIX.  421 

or  the  stone,  but  look  beyond  these  to  tlie  adorable  object  represented  by 
them.  This  is  not  true,  as  to  the  worship  permitted,  and  even  sanc- 
tioned by  their  church.  It  may  be  true  of  this  person  or  of  that ;  and  of 
you,  should  you  be  entangled  in  the  snare  laid  for  you.  But  it  has  no 
bearing  on  the  question  of  communion  with  a  church  which  tolerates 
such  idolatry,  provable  in  credible  and  uncontradicted  facts,  abounding 
over  the  Christian  world,  of  images  opening  their  eyes,  shedding  tears, 
and  manifesting  other  signs  of  intelligence.  Independently  of  innume- 
rable testimonies  to  this  effect,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  cele- 
brated image  in  Loretto ;  in  which  city,  the  street  leading  to  the  chapel 
has  been  always  occupied  with  shops,  for  the  sale  of  materials  certified 
to  have  touched  the  image,  and  therefore  deriving  virtue  from  it.  During 
the  recent  devastations  of  the  French  in  Italy,  many  are  the  instances  of 
their  having  destroyed  the  mechanisms,  and  exposed  the  artifices  of  these 
superstitions  :  and  with  whatever  impiety  the  deeds  may  have  been  ac- 
companied, truth  ought  not  to  disdain  to  avail  itself  of  the  detections  of 
imposture. 

The  Council  of  Trent  affirms  that  the  worship  is  to  be  transferred  to 
the  object  represented.  Yet  they  declare  honour  to  be  due  to  the  images 
themselves  ;  and  they  prescribe  that  there  shall  be  the  suppression  of  all 
abuses.  Now  in  di-awing  tlie  line  of  discrimination  between  use  and 
abuse,  it  is  reasonable  to  bring  into  view  what  was  practised  at  the  time 
of  the  council,  and  continues  to  the  present  day,  without  even  an  endea- 
vour for  the  suppression  of  it. 

The  Roman  Catholic  church  has  exercised  a  natural  policy  in  trans- 
ferring the  second  commandment  from  its  proper  place,  and  in  attaching 
it  to  the  first ;  although  they  are  different  subjects,  and  ought  to  retain 
their  separate  stations.  Their  diversity  appears  in  the  instance  of  the 
golden  calf,  fabricated  by  Aaron.  It  was  an  image,  but  intended  to  be  a 
representative  of  the  one  true  God,  as  appears  in  the  proclamation  of 
Aaron — "  To-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the  Lord."  The  same  may  be  remarked 
of  the  two  calves  set  up  by  Jeroboam,  in  Bethel  and  in  Dan.  It  was  a 
political  project,  to  prevent  the  resort  of  the  ten  tribes  to  the  altar  in 
Jerusalem.  Still  it  was  with  the  annunciation — "  Behold  thy  gods,  O 
Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  Here  was  the 
worship  of  God  through  the  medium  of  an  image.  But  however  desirable 
the  severing  of  the  two  commandments,  it  did  not  prevent  a  stumbling 
block  to  the  people,  in  there  being  continually  presented  to  their  eyes  a 
prohibition  of  image  worship,  which'  no  ingenuity  can  explain  away. 
Accordingly  there  is,  consistently,  an  omission  of  it  in  their  catechisms. 

It  nearly  concerns  you,  on  this  most  interesting  of  subjects,  to  consider 
what  the  Old  Testament  records,  of  the  interpositions  of  a  divine  agency, 
to  sustain,  in  one  nation  at  least,  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God,  with- 
out the  intervention  of  creature  worship.  We  cannot  doubt  that  Noah 
and  his  sons  carried  with  them  from  the  ark  a  correct  theology.  Hence 
it  has  happened,  that  in  examining  the  creeds  of  ancient  nations,  you  will 
2  L* 


422  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

find  them  worthy  of  the  godhead,  in  proportion  as  you  ascend  to  that 
source ;  even  improvements  in  science  and  in  civilization,  being  so  far 
from  checking  the  propensity  to  idolatry,  that  it  increased  with  tlieir  ad- 
vancement. The  patriarclial  and  the  Jewisli  creed  would  have  been 
borne  down  by  the  torrent,  but  for  the  interterence,  from  time  to  time, 
of  immediate  communications  from  Heaven,  by  which  there  was  continued 
among  them  the  knowledge  of  the  exclusive  right  of  the  Deity  to  the 
homage  of  his  creatures,  unto  the  coming  of  the  blessed  person,  in  whom 
dwelt  "all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily." 

In  opposition  to  such  overwhelming  authorities,  what  are  those  which 
Roman  Catholicism  brings  from  Scripture,  in  defence  of  its  invading  of 
the  divine  prerogative]  They  are  so  irrelative,  that  the  mere  advance- 
ment of  them  is  a  disproof  of  the  point  to  which  they  are  directed.  Let 
there  be  a  recital. 

It  is  thought  worth  while  to  plead  the  worship  paid  by  the  Israelites 
to  the  brazen  serpent,  on  looking  to  which  they  were  cured  of  the 
wounds  which  real  serpents  had  inflicted.  It  is  true  that  this  abomina- 
tion grew  out  of  the  perversion  of  a  divine  command.  But  it  was  put  an 
end  to  by  good  king  Hezekiah ;  not  without  contempt  poured  on  the  in- 
strument of  the  idolatry. 

Jacob's  worshipping  "  on  the  top  of  his  staff,"  at  the  crisis  of  his  de- 
cease, is  altered  to  "  the  worshipping  of  liis  staff;"  and  this  is  effected 
by  taking  an  ancient  Greek  translation  in  preference  to  the  original 
Hebrew. 

Another  tortured  authority  is  in  the  ninety-ninth  Psalm — "  worship  at 
his  footstool."  The  Roman  Catholics  translate  it — "  worship  his  foot- 
stool ;"  for  which  their  only  authority  is  a  Latin  version  made  long  since 
the  apostolic  age. 

The  two  cherubim,  made  by  Moses,  are  mentioned  to  the  same  effect ; 
which  is  not  to  the  purpose  ;  the  divine  glory,  when  manifested,  being 
not  between  the  cherubim,  but  over  the  mercy  seat.  Besides,  the  place 
was  the  holy  of  holies,  to  which  the  people  were  not  admitted,  but  only 
the  high  priest,  and  he  only  once  in  the  year. 

I  rest  it  on  your  conscience  to  estimate  the  weight  of  these  preten- 
sions, compared  with  the  very  many  passages,  equally  explicit  with 
what  we  read  in  Deut.  iv.  7.  "Take  ye  good  heed,  lest  ye  corrupt 
yourselves,  and  make  you  a  graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any  figure, 
the  likeness  of  male  or  female,  the  likeness  of  any  beast  that  is  on  the 
earth,"  &c.,  to  v.  19. 

Be  assured  of  its  not  being  without  a  view  to  a  moral  use  that  pre- 
cepts of  this  sort  are  so  many  and  so  explicit.  There  is  no  human 
frailty  more  conspicuous  than  that  which  tempts  to  the  excluding  of  the 
contemplation  of  that  attribute  of  God,  which  we  call  his  omniscience, 
extending  its  jurisdiction  to  the  inmost  recesses  of  our  hearts,  and  exer- 
cising its  dominion  over  our  thoughts.  You  are  not  without  a  measure 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  history  of  ancient  nations  ;  and  you  would  do 


APPENDIX.  423 

well  to  enlarge  it,  with  a  view  to  this  object.  You  will  find  that  on  the 
re-peojjling-  of  the  world,  after  the  flood,  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God, 
brought  by  Noah  from  the  ark,  was  for  a  while  continued  by  his  descen- 
dants in  the  seats  of  their  various  settlements,  until  it  was  gradually  pol- 
luted by  the  intermixture  of  idolatry  ;  the  issue  of  the  propensity  which 
has  been  mentioned  ;  or,  as  itJs  expressed  by  an  apostle,  "  because  they 
did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge."  The  Chaldeans,  the 
Egyptians,  the  Persians,  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  were,  all  of  them, 
more  pure  in  their  theology  in  the  earliest  periods  of  their  existence  than 
in  the  later  when  they  became  advanced  in  science  :  for  it  is  a  remark- 
able fact  that  this  had  not  the  effect  either  of  a  check  or  of  a  cure  of  a 
degeneracy  so  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  reason,  when  they  are  not 
counteracted  by  the  sinful  propensities  of  the  heart.  What  is  suffered 
and  even  favoured  by  Roman  Catholicism,  is  the  revival  of  the  corrup. 
tion  of  heathenism  ;  and  to  both  of  them  there  may  be  ahke  applied  the 
censure  passed  on  them  in  Scripture,  of  offering  homage  to  pretended 
objects  of  it ;  which  "  have  eyes  and  see  not,  ears  and  hear  not,  hands 
and  handle  not." 

LETTER  III. 

My  Young  Friend  : 

From  the  worship  of  inert  matter,  I  pass  to  that  offered  to  those  who 
were  once  men  and  women  like  ourselves.  They  are  now  said  to  be  in 
heaven.  The  Scriptures  speak  of  an  intermediate  state,  in  which  the 
righteous  wait  for  the  consummation  of  bliss  in  body  and  in  soul ;  and 
the  wicked  are  suffering  from  former  guilt,  anticipating  the  judgment  of 
the  great  day.  Here  is  a  truth,  than  which  there  can  be  none  clearer  in 
Scripture,  or  in  the  early  flithers.  But  after  some  hundreds  of  years 
from  the  beginning  it  was  dropped,  for  the  purpose  of  elevating  former 
saints  to  a  resemblance  of  those  gods  and  goddesses  who  had  been  dis- 
placed by  the  holy  genius  of  Christian  doctrine.  It  is  a  retrogradation 
which  must  be  accounted  for  from  the  already  mentioned  propensity,  of 
withdrawing  from  the  notice  of  the  eye  which  is  "in  every  place,  be- 
holding  the  evil  and  the  good." 

There  is  not  put  out  of  view  the  distinction  imagined  between  two 
species  of  worship,  of  a  higher  and  a  lower  grade  ;  and  expressed  by 
two  Greek  words,  which  apply  respectively.  This  was  an  after-thought, 
called  for  to  cover  an  obtrusive  species  of  worship.  The  Bible  knows 
nothing  of  any  grade  of  this  to  be  offered  to  former  men  and  women, 
however  holy  may  have  been  their  lives,  or  whatever  may  now  be  their 
condition. 

It  rests  with  your  correspondent  on  credible  testimony,  that  in  this 
city  there  is  sedulously  propagated  the  notion  denying  the  worship  of 
saints  in  any  sense.  We  do  not  pray  to  them,  say  some  ;  we  only 
solicit  them  to  pray  for  us.     This  may  pass  in  our  country  ;  but  in  some 


424  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

countries  it  would  bring,  as  was  said  before,  into  tlie  fangs  of  the  in- 
quisition. 

Supposing,  although  not  granting,  that  the  fact  is  as  affirmed  ;  what 
warrant  can  there  be  for  the  imagining  that  they  are  so  near  to  Deity  as 
to  possess  the  knowledge  of  our  thoughts  1  There  is  none  ;  and  this  is 
implied  by  the  Psalmist  (Ixv.  2)  ;  where  he  introduces  as  an  incom- 
municable attribute,  "  thou  that  hearest  the  prayer,  unto  thee  shall  all 
flesh  come." 

But  the  fact  is  not  as  is  affirmed.  There  are  prayers  offered  to  those 
who  were  once  mere  mortals,  in  books  published  under  Roman  Catholic 
authority,  and  sold  in  Roman  Catholic  bookstores  of  this  city  :  prayers 
for  the  best  blessings  which  we  can  derive,  or  the  divine  benignity  can 
bestow.  As  a  sample,  I  will  only  refer  you  to  a  book  under  the  name 
of  "  The  Pious  Guide."  [The  edition  noticed  is  that  published  in  New 
York,  in  1808.]  On  a  single  page  (p.  176)  there  are  three  prayers  to 
the  virgin  Mary,  fully  to  the  present  purpose.  In  the  first  of  them,  she 
is  addressed  in  these  words,  "  in  the  hour  of  our  death  illustrate  and 
strengthen  our  souls  with  the  knowledge  of  the  true  faith,  that  they  be 
not  prevented  by  error  or  pernicious  ignorance."  In  the  second  of  the 
said  prayers,  is  this  language,  "  so  instil  into  us,  at  the  hour  of  our 
death,  the  sweetness  of  divine  love,  that  all  bitterness  at  that  time  may 
become  acceptable  and  pleasant  to  us."  And  in  the  third  we  read,  "  I 
supplicate  thee,  O  mother  of  the  eternal  world,  to  adopt  me  as  thy 
child,  and  take  upon  thyself  the  care  of  my  salvation."  Here  are  these 
and  other  prayers  for  that  grace  which,  according  to  the  Bible,  the  spirit 
of  God  only  can  bestow.  Therefore,  while  we  joyfully  comply  with 
what  the  holy  virgin  was  inspired  to  foresee,  when  she  uttered  the 
memorable  words,  "  from  henceforth  all  generations  shall  call  thee 
blessed,"  we  may  think  it  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  the  provi- 
dence of  God  has  transmitted  to  us  the  said  saying,  as  providing  limits 
to  which  the  veneration  due  to  so  illustrious  a  personage  should  be 
restrained. 

In  the  book  referred  to,  it  is  not  to  the  virgin  Mary  alone,  in  the  list 
of  saints,  that  there  is  prayer  for  something  more  than  what  is  involved 
in  intercession.  In  the  invocation  of  others,  petitions  of  this  sort  are 
incidentally  introduced.  For  instance,  in  a  prayer  to  be  offered  to  St 
Joseph,  the  husband  of  the  virgin,  the  petitioner  is  not  only  made  to 
choose  him  for  his  "lord  and  master,"  but  to  say,  "  assist  me  in  all  the 
actions  of  my  life  ;"  and  how  this  can  be  done  but  by  that  kind  of  assis- 
tance for  which  we  ought  to  look  to  the  highest  source,  it  is  difficult  to 
perceive.  What  is  still  stronger,  there  is  in  the  prayer  to  St  Aloysius, 
"  receive  me  as  thy  client  and  obedient  servant,  and  assist  me  in  the 
pursuit  of  virtue  and  learning.  Nourish  and  increase  in  me  a  purity  of 
body  and  mind.  Turn  off  the  snares  laid  against  my  chastity  ;  ward  and 
defend  me  against  the  dangers  of  the  world  ;  inspire  my  heart  with  a 
true  and  filial  confidence  in  the  ever  blessed  Virgin  Mary,"  &.c.     If 


APPENDIX.  425 

there  could  be  any  need  to  carry  yotir  attention  to  books  beyond  "  The 
Pious  Guide,"  it  would  be  easy  to  recite  to  you  various  invocations  to 
saints  from  other  authentic  documents.  I  am  aware  of  its  being  to  be 
seen  in  authors  of  the  most  established  reputation  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  the  censuring-  of  such  devotions  ;  and  the  pleading  that  the  church 
is  not  answerable  for  the  indiscretion  of  them.  But  is  she  not  answerable 
for  the  presentation  to  her  children  for  their  use  of  such  means  of 
"  worshipping  the  creature,"  if  not  more  than  the  creator,  yet  as  on  a 
level  with  him  in  the  possession  of  attributes  which  should  be  considered 
as  his  exclusively  1  So  far  as  respects  tlie  virgin  Mary,  there  is  the 
absence  of  even  this  plea.  No  Roman  Catholic  writer,  it  is  here  be- 
lieved, has  censured  the  direct  invocation  of  her  aid  and  her  protection. 
For  a  cover  to  this  there  is  invented  another  Greek  word  ;  intended  to 
denote  a  species  of  worship  intermediate  betvv^een  that  exclusively  due 
to  God  and  that  permitted  to  be  offered  to  tiie  saints. 

LETTER  IV, 

My  Young  Friend, 

The  next  subject  to  which  I  invite  your  attention  is  the  enormous 
doctrine  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  known  under  the  unscriptural 
name  of  transubstantiation  :  a  name  not  heard  until  obtruded  on  the 
church  about  twelve  hundred  years  after  the  life  and  the  death  of  her 
adorable  head.  It  would  seem  impossible,  were  not  the  fact  within  our 
knowledge,  that  what  people  perceive  by  their  senses  to  be  bread  and 
wine  is  flesh  and  blood,  changed  to  them  by  a  religious  invocation. 
That  they  are  these  sacramentally,  as  a  picture  is  called  by  the  name  of 
the  man  whom  it  represents,  is  not  to  be  denied  :  but  that  our  Saviour, 
when  he  instituted  the  eucharist,  held  in  his  hands  his  body  not  yet 
offered  on  the  cross,  is  not  properly  a  mystery,  but  an  impossibility; 
which  even  revelation  cannot  require  us  to  believe.  Revelation  itself 
rests  on  the  contrary  supposition  :  since  the  miracles  of  our  Saviour  and 
of  his  apostles  are  rested  on  the  evidences  of  the  senses ;  which  may 
have  been  deceptive  in  regard  to  the  miracles,  on  the  supposition  of 
deception  in  the  case  in  question.  Figurative  language  admits  of  expla- 
nation from  circumstances,  under  the  interpretation  of  common  sense. 
Our  Saviour  calls  himself  in  one  place  a  door,  in  another  a  shepherd, 
and  in  another  a  vine  :  the  senses  of  which  are  discoverable  in  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  are  severally  introduced.  When  he  calls  the 
bread  and  the  wine  his  body  and  his  blood,  immediately  after  the  cele- 
brating of  the  passover,  the  language  was  in  analogy  with  that  applied 
to  the  latter  institution.  The  only  real  passover  was  in  Egypt.  The 
annual  passover  was  such  in  figure  only.  So  the  body  and  the  blood  of 
Christ  were  offered  once  for  all  on  the  cross.  The  representation  of 
them  in  bread  and  wine  takes  their  name  in  figure  or  sacramentally.  To 
suppose  that  the  substances  of  them  are  changed,  and  that  the  proper- 


426  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

ties  remain,  is  in  contrariety  to  all  those  appeals  to  the  testimony  of  the 
senses  which  abound  in  the  Scriptures. 

You  will  still  see  the  less  reason  to  build  such  an  extraordinary  doc- 
trine on  the  positions,  "this  is  my  body,"  and  "this  is  my  blood,"  if 
you  should  call  to  mind  the  many  similar  sayings  of  Scripture  from  which 
no  such  inferences  are  drawn.  We  read,  "  the  good  seed  are  the  chil- 
dren  of  the  kingdom  ;"  "  the  tares  are  the  children  of  the  wicked  one ;" 
"  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world  ;"  "  the  reapers  are  the  angels  ;" 
"the  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches  ;"  and  the  "seven 
candlesticks  are  the  seven  churches."  In  all  these  instances,  and  so  in 
the  language  in  question,  material  objects  are  representative  of  spiritual. 

What  should  of  itself  be  a  sufficient  disproof  of  the  doctrine,  are  the 
comparatively  modern  usages  naturally  accommodated  to  it,  but  of  which 
it  will  not  be  pretended  that  there  are  any  appearances  until  above  a 
thousand  years  after  Christ.  Such  are  the  elevation  of  the  host,  by  the 
officiating  priest,  the  people's  adoration  of  it,  and  its  being  carried  an- 
nually in  solemn  procession,  on  a  festival  day  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose. If  the  notice  of  this  should  seem  to  carry  you  aside  from  your 
course  of  reading,  it  is  because  you  may  be  satisfied  of  the  fact  by  pro- 
posing it  to  any  intelligent  and  candid  pursuer  of  the  work  of  making 
converts.  To  the  same  test  there  may  be  committed  the  position  that 
much  of  what  is  comprehended  in  Roman  Catholicism  was  the  product 
of  certain  false  decretals,  which  had  unlimited  sway  through  ages,  but 
which  no  Roman  Catholic  critic  will  now  risk  his  reputation  in  de- 
fending. 

Under  a  knowledge  of  the  premises  I  commit  to  your  conscience  to 
determine  whether  you  can,  without  sin,  prostrate  yourself  in  an  act  of 
adoration  of  what  your  senses  of  sight,  of  touch  and  of  taste  manifest  to 
be  bread  and  wine.  Be  assured,  that  the  God  who  has  said,  "  I  will  not 
give  my  glory  to  another,"  when  deceased  men  and  women  are  the  con- 
templated objects,  must  be  at  least  as  tenacious  of  his  prerogative  in 
reference  to  inert  matter  given  for  our  use,  and  not  fur  such  manifest 
abuse. 

LETTER  V. 

My  Young  Friend  : 

The  only  remaining  point  to  be  brought  before  you  is  that  of  the 
papacy.  With  seekers  of  converts  of  the  present  day  there  is  nothing 
which  they  more  endeavour  to  press  on  these  who  listen  to  them  than 
that  the  belief  of  Roman  Catholics  has  no  dependence  on  the  pope. 
But  does  he  not  lay  claim  to  this  ?  Has  it  not  been  often  exercised  by 
his  predecessors,  in  dispensing  with  the  observance  of  oaths  ;  in  the  ap- 
probation of  massacres  ;  in  the  deposing  of  princes,  and  in  the  inviting 
of  their  subjects  to  murder  them  1  When  any  of  these  enormities  have 
been  practised  by  an  individual,  has  it  ever  been  visited  by  papal  cen- 
sure 1     You  know  enough  of  history  for  answers  to  these  questions.     In 


APPENDIX.  427 

France  the  public  authorities  and  the  mass  of  the  people  have  always 
distinguished  between  the  temporal  and  the  spiritual  power  of  the 
popes ;  yet  this  was  no  shield  against  the  more  ardent  popery  of  such 
men  as  Clement  and  Ravaillac,  when  the  former  attempted  the  murder 
of  Henry  III.,  and  the  latter  accomplished  that  of  Henry  IV.  In  Eng- 
land, in  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  the  Roman  Catholics  attended  in 
the  churches  of  the  establishment,  during  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  until 
forbidden  by  the  pope  ;  and  although,  after  that,  they  disapproved  of  the 
deposition  and  of  the  incitement  to  treason,  yet  to  these  there  were  re- 
conciled the  consciences  of  some,  prompting  them  during  the  whole  of 
the  reign  of  the  queen  to  endeavour  to  take  her  life.  Every  person  who 
confesses  the  authority  of  the  pope  in  spirituals  gives  occasion  to  such 
atrocities,  however  little  the  intention. 

But  besides,  there  take  place  occurrences  in  which  it  is  difficult  to 
discriminate,  and  to  pronounce  how  much  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
spiritual  authority  and  how  much  to  the  temporal.  The  pope  being  a 
temporal  prince,  the  interests  of  his  states  are  very  much  affected  by  the 
fluctuating  politics  of  the  European  powers  ;  and  it  would  be  too  much 
to  expect  from  human  nature,  that  v;hen  he  is  combined  with  some  sove- 
reigns in  hostility  to  others,  there  should  not  be  a  bias  to  his  cause  in 
the  mass  of  a  population  who  consent  to  his  authority  in  the  concerns  of 
their  souls.  It  is  opposite  to  the  clearest  dictates  of  patriotism  to  be 
subject  to  authority  of  either  sort,  extraneous  to  that  under  which  we 
live,  and  to  which  we  are  enjoined  in  Scripture  to  be  subject. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  boasts  that  she  is  the  mother  and  the 
mistress  of  all  other  churches.  Here  are  two  pretended  facts,  of  which 
you  are  a  competent  judge,  without  having  recourse  to  any  other  history 
than  that  of  the  New  Testament.  In  reference  to  the  character  of  mother, 
we  have  there  information  of  various  churches,  without  the  least  hint 
that  they  were  planted  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  On  the  contrary,  St  Paul 
tells  the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  iv.  15)  that  he  had  "begotten  them  through  the 
Gospel."  In  other  places  it  appears  that  he  had  planted  many  of  them 
without  aid  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  without  dependence  on  her.  In 
the  said  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (i.  36)  the  apostle  demands,  "  went 
the  word  of  God  out  from  you,  or  came  it  unto  you  only  ]"  How  much 
more  plausible  would  have  been  the  pretence  of  the  Church  of  Rome  to 
the  character  of  mother  had  such  language  been  applied  to  her,  and  not 
to  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  ;  which  never  asserted  jurisdiction  beyond  its 
bounds,  notwithstanding  the  undisputed  fact,  that  when  the  Saviour  issued 
the  command  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  it  was  with  the  circum- 
stance, "beginning  at  Jerusalem." 

I  am  aware  that  the  papacy  founds  its  pretensions  on  St  Peter's  being 
called  the  rock  (Matt,  xvi.)  on  which  Christ  was  to  build  his  church ; 
but  there  is  put  out  of  view  what  is  said  in  the  next  chapter  but  one,  of 
the  building  of  the  church  on  all  the  apostles.  It  helps  the  opposite 
cause  but  little  to  plead  what  is  said  in  John  xxi.  1.5,  16,  17,  concerning 


428  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

the  feeding  of  the  sheep  ;  as  if  there  might  not  be  seen  the  thrice  giving 
such  a  charge  and  its  being  addressed  especially  to  St  Peler,  in  the 
recollection  of  his  having  thrice  denied  his  Lord,  and  to  be  a  security 
against  his  having  of  confidence  in  himself  in  future. 

Here  I  end  my  letters  to  you.  The  principles  sustained  in  them 
might  be  extended  to  other  points  in  the  Roman  Catholic  creed  ;  such 
as  purgatory,  penance  as  distinguished  from  repentance,  and  confes- 
sion to  a  priest  as  of  obligation,  and  extreme  unction  to  dying  persons  ; 
for  no  one  of  which  will  you  find  any  authority  in  the  Scriptures.  If 
you  were  to  extend  your  inquiries  beyond  Scripture,  which  is  not  your 
duty,  you  would  find  them  showing  their  heads  some  ages  beyond  that 
of  the  apostles,  and  matured  by  the  increasing  ignorance  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  times. 

I  conclude  with  my  prayer  that  you  may  continue  secure  in  "  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  that  you  may  adorn  it  by  Chris- 
tian conversation,  to  the  comfort  and  the  joy  of 

Your  Pastor.* 


Letter'  to  his  Grandson,  George  H.  White,  when  about  to  sail,  as  Mid- 
shipman, in  the  United  States  Sloop  of  War  Vandalia. 

December  l"?,  1828. 
My  Dear  George  : 

When  we  parted,  it  was  with  the  expectation,  on  my  part,  of  seeing 
you  again  before  the  sailing  of  the  ship.  I  shall  be  disappointed ;  and 
therefore  adopt  this  method  of  bidding  you  an  affectionate  farewell ;  and 
of  assuring  you  of  the  interest  which  T  shall  take  in  your  future  pros- 
perity and  good  conduct. 

Besides  the  uncertainty  of  life,  under  all  circumstances,  my  advance  in 
years  reminds  me  of  at  least  the  probability  of  my  not  witnessing  your 
return  to  my  family.  It  is  one  of  the  blessed  effects  of  our  holy  religion, 
that  we  are  encouraged  by  it  to  look  forward  to  a  reunion,  where  separa- 
tion will  be  known  no  more.  The  nearer  I  approach  to  the  time  of  my 
departure  from  this  world,  the  more  I  find  satisfaction  in  occasionally 
looking  back  on  separations  which  were  subjects  of  great  grief  to  me  ; 
and  produced  temporary  absence,  but  now  perceived  to  be  nearly  at  an 
end.  I  allude  to  those  who  were  dear  to  me,  during  their  lives,  long 
since  terminated,  and  whose  virtues  I  contemplated  as  a  preparation  for 
a  better  state  :  and  here  I  will  mention,  that  if  before  my  decease  there 
should  be  any  thing  in  the  conduct  of  you,  my  dear  grandson,  threaten- 
ing a  contrary  issue  to  your  course  of  life,  it  will  greatly  embitter  the 
small  remainder  of  my  days. 

There  will  be  no  way  of  being  secure  against  this,  but  by  beginning 


*    These  letters  are  without  date,  but  from  the  handwriting  and  the  paper  appear  to 
have  been  written  at  a  verj'  late  period  of  the  Bishop's  life. 


APPENDIX.  429 

under  the  sense  of  the  obligations  of  religion.  It  is  a  strong  proof  of 
our  being  bound  to  this  by  the  great  Author  of  our  nature,  that  there  is  a 
tendency  of  the  human  mind  to  look  up  to  him  in  times  of  danger  and  of 
distress.  This  is  always  the  case,  unless  when  there  has  been  a  syste- 
matic abandonment  of  all  belief  of  the  existence  of  such  a  being;  or  else 
of  his  noticing  of  our  actions  and  our  concerns.  In  this  case,  dreadful 
is  the  issue:  there  being  nothing  to  bear  up  the  mind  under  misfortune  ; 
which,  for  want  of  such  a  resource,  is  productive  of  despondency  and 
despair,  or,  what  is  worse,  of  the  abandonment  of  all  upright  principle. 

Beware,  my  dear  boy,  of  giving  a  beginning  to  this  progress,  by  pro- 
faning the  name  of  that  great  Being.  In  some  cases,  it  is  difficult  to 
draw  the  line  of  distinction  between  mere  frailty,  and  those  sins  which 
cut  off  from  the  mercies  of  God :  but  of  the  profane  swearer  it  may  be 
pronounced,  without  a  doubt,  that  he  cannot  have  such  a  reverence  of 
the  being  and  of  the  perfections  of  God,  as  is  the  only  motive  to  virtuous 
conduct,  further  than  what  may  arise  from  prudential  considerations ; 
which  will  never  be  sufficiently  powerful  for  the  resistance  of  very  strong 
temptation.  For  this  reason,  be  very  careful  how  you  conduct  yourself, 
in  any  of  your  social  intercourses,  in  which  you  may  hear  religion  treated 
with  levity.  I  would  be  far  from  inciting  you,  at  your  time  of  life,  to  un- 
dertake the  office  of  a  professed  reprover.  But  you  may,  at  least,  avoid 
participation  ;  and  may  even  go  further,  manifesting  dissatisfaction  by 
your  reserve.  Even  circumstances  may  occur  where  a  remark,  season- 
ably made,  may  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  modesty  of  youth. 

It  will  probably  happen  to  you  that  irreligion  will  take  the  shape  of  a 
distinction  between  an  acknowledgement  of  God,  and  faith  in  the  Gospel. 
Be  assured,  that  in  a  practical  point  of  view,  this  is  a  distinction  in  name 
only.  Look  at  those  who  make  it ;  and  you  will  find  no  evidence  iu 
their  conversation,  or  in  their  conduct,  that  they  are  living  in  acts  of  ado. 
ration.  It  is  a  mere  excuse  for  the  living  without  the  control  of  any  re- 
ligious principle  or  feefing.  You  have  been  baptized  into  the  religion  of 
the  Saviour;  and  as  surely  as  that  it  is  divine,  if  you  should  abandon  it, 
you  will  be  responsible,  at  the  bar  of  God,  for  the  grounds  on  which  the 
apostacy  will  have  happened.  You  are  too  young  to  enter  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  way  of  theological  disquisition  ;  but  not  to  remark  the  ill  effect 
of  infidelity  on  morals:  and  although  it  is  a  foundation  on  which  it  is 
too  common  to  endeavour  to  erect  a  literary  reputation  ;  yet  it  may  be 
affirmed  with  confidence,  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
present  day,  the  men  the  most  eminent  in  the  various  departments  of 
science  have  held,  that  the  system  rests  on  a  basis  which  cannot  be  shaken, 
consistently  with  the  acknowledged  laws  of  evidence  ;  and  that  its  mo- 
rality is  the  most  perfect  that  has  ever  been  published  to  the  world. 

There  would  be  no  danger  of  erring  in  this  matter,  if  men  would  always 

conduct  their  investigations  under  the  influence  of  the  habitual  exercises 

of  prayer  to  God  for  his  grace,  and  of  thankfulness  for  his  mercies — a 

duty  suggested  by  our  natural  sense  of  our  weakness,  and  of  our  depend. 

2  M 


430  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WHITE. 

ence  on  supreme  power.  Under  cessation  of  this  duty,  there  is  no  fore- 
seeing  into  what  sins  we  may  be  seduced.  Let  me  therefore  entreat 
you  to  be  conscientious  in  this  matter  ;  and  especially  never  to  begin  the 
day  without  prayer  to  God  for  the  protection  of  his  providence,  and  for 
the  guidance  of  his  grace;  nor  to  end  it,  without  thankfulness  for  his 
mercies,  and  committing  yourself  to  his  holy  keeping. 

Remember  that  in  proportion  as  we  possess  sensibility  of  our  natural 
weakness  and  even  impotency,  we  shall  look  up  to  that  heavenly  aid,  with- 
out which  we  have  no  good  desires,  and  are  incompetent  to  any  good 
work;  and  the  more  we  are  aware  of  the  evil  of  sin,  we  shall  avail  our- 
selves of  that  door  of  mercy,  which  is  laid  open  to  our  repentance,  through 
the  mercy  of  God,  in  a  Redeemer. 

My  dear  George,  I  have  brought  together,  in  haste,  a  few  remarks ; 
praying  for  the  blessing  of  God  in  them  ;  that  they  may  help  to  conduct 
you  on  a  more  dangerous  sea,  than  that  on  which  you  will  embark  in  the 
Vandalia — the  sea  of  temptation  ;  and  further,  that  on  the  one  hand,  in 
the  event  of  future  prosperity,  it  may  be  to  you  a  ground  of  religious 
gratitude;  and  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  should  fall  into  adversity,  they 
should  direct  you  to  what  are  the  only  sources  of  consolation  in  life  and 
in  death. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  your  captain  ;  and  promise  myself  that  he  will 
be  as  a  father  to  you.  On  your  part,  I  trust  and  believe  that  there  will  be 
respect  and  obedience.  Throughout  my  life,  I  have  had  occasion  to  re- 
mark, that  the  most  apt  to  resist  reasonable  authority,  are  the  most  apt 
to  show  themselves  tyrants  in  the  exercise  of  power. 

It  will  also  be  of  no  small  importance  to  make  yourself  agreeable  to 
your  companions  in  duty :  not  by  compliance  in  any  sinful  practices,  if 
there  should  be  any,  which,  be  assured,  will  not  conciliate  their  esteem 
or  lasting  friendship  ;  but  by  good  offices,  as  occasions  may  occur  ;  and 
especially  by  avoiding  all  reasonable  causes  of  offence. 

Once  more,  my  dear  George,  farewell.  May  the  blessing  of  God  be 
with  you.  Within  a  few  days  you  will  be  at  a  distance  from  me ;  but 
not  distant  from  the  affection  or  from  the  prayers  of 

Your  grandfather, 

Wm  white. 


THE  END. 


Lately  Issued, 

BY    THE    SAME     PUBLISHERS, 

First  Mmerican,  from  the  Fifth  London  Edition,  Illustrated  by  2-20  Wood  Engravings, 
and  16  Plates  and  Maps  —  2  vols,  royal  8vo, 

PRINCIPLES  OF  GEOLOGY, 

BY  CHARLES  LYELL,  F.R.S., 


AN    INQUIRY    HOW    FAR    THE    FORMER    CHANGES    OF    THE    EARTH's    SUR- 
FACE ARE  REFERABLE  TO  CAUSES  NOW  IN  OPERATION,  ETC. 


The  following  Notices  may  serve  to  show  the  high  character  which  the  above 
work  enjoys,  as  the  Standard  Text  Book  for  advanced  Students  of  Geology,  both 
in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  : — 

From  the  London  Quarterly  Review.—"  We  hail  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  the  appear- 
ance of  Mr.  Lyell'a  work,  which  henceforward,  we  can  hardly  doubt,  will  mark  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  era  in  GeoloRy.  The  title  of  the  book  shows  that  it  is  an  attempt  to  place 
the  study  of  the  science  on  its  true  basis— to  explain  the  former  changes  of  the  eartii's  sur- 
face by  reference  to  causes  now  in  operation.  The  mode  in  which  this  undertaking  has  been 
executed,  is  most  satisfactory,  and  confirms  the  high  reputation  Mr.  Lyell  enjoys  for  zeal  and 
accuracy  in  observation,  and  an  intimacy  with  many  of  the  branches  of  science  and  natural 
history  which  bear  upon  Geology.  It  exhibits,  also,  together  with  much  literary  research  and 
elegance  of  language,  a  luminous  arrangement  and  powers  of  analytical  reasoning,  which 
we  should  be  glad  to  meet  with  more  frequenily  in  the  contributions  to  our  scientific  know- 
ledge. Incorporated  with  his  arguments,  and  the  details  extracted  from  other  sources,  Mr. 
Lyell  has,  moreover,  communicated  a  great  body  of  original  observations  of  much  interest, 
collected  during  the  tours  he  has  recently  made  for  scientific  purposes  on  the  continent.— We 
cannot  but  express  our  obligations  to  him  for  the  great  addition  be  has  made  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  nature,  and  the  beneficial  influence  it  is  likely  to  have  in  communicating  a  right 
direction  and  a  philosophical  spirit  of  induction  to  geological  inquiry." 

From  Silliman^s  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Jirts.—"  The  rapidity  with  which  new 
editions  of  this  excellent  Work  have  appeared,  sufficiently  evinces  the  estimation  in  which 
it  is  held.  We  are  indebted  to  the  industry,  good  Judgment,  and  great  science  of  Mr.  Lyell, 
for  a  lucid  and  highly  interesting  exhibition  of  facts,  and  for  a  logical  and  candid  discussion 
of  principles.  He  has  done  much  to  recal  Geologists  from  extravagant  speculations,  and  to 
allure  them  back  to  a  course  of  strict  induction  ;  thus  placing  Geology  side  by  side  with  the 
other  sciences  of  observation.  The  publication  of  Mr.  Lyell's  Work  forms  a  new  era  in 
Geology  ;  it  must  be  studied  by  every  person  who  would  be  acrjuainti'd  with  the  present  im- 
proved slate  of  the  science  ;  and  happily  the  study  will  prove  no  task  ;  for  the  lucid  and 
beautiful  style  of  the  author,  embellished  by  occasional  classical  flowers,  gives  this  Work 
almost  as  peculiar  a  character,  as  its  novel  philosophy." 

From  the  Transactions  of  the  Oeological  Society  of  Penvsylca7iia.—  "ll  can  scarcely  be 
necessary  to  say  any  thing  in  praise  of  this  Work.  Its  appearance  will  always  form  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  Geology.  Up  to  that  time  the  doctrine  which  assumed  the  cau.5cs  of 
changes,  whether  of  a  destroying  or  productive  character,  actually  in  progress  on  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  to  be  utterly  inadequate  to  explain,  scarcely  even  to  illustrate,  the  earlier  changes 
of  which  that  surface  exhibits  such  striking  traces,  hold  almost  undisputed  sway  in  the  geologi- 
cal circles.  Mr.  Lyell,  applying  himself  to  the  elucidation  of  the  existing  causes  of  change, 
and  their  probable  influence  on  the  older  geological  formations,  with  an  industry  and  research 
which  are  joined  to  the  happiest  powers  of  description  and  command  of  language,  has  pro- 
duced a  Work  not  only  of  the  highest  interest  to  the  scientific  world,  but  of  the  most  popular 
und  fascinating  nature  to  the  general  reader." 

(12) 


COLKOT'S 

PROGRESSIVE 

FRENCH    SCHOOL    SERIES. 

A  Complete  Course  of  Study  of  the  French  Language,  as  it  is  Bead,  Written,  and  Spoken 
In  6  volumes,  royal  18mo,  beautifully  printed,  and  hound  to  match. 


Z.    &   II. 

COLLOT'S  LEVIZAC'S  FRENCH 
GRAMMAR  AND  EXERCISES. 

In  this  Grammar,  the  basis  of  which  is  Levizac's 
French  Grammar,  the  valuable  but  ill  arranged  contents 
of  that  work  have  been  reduced  to  a  natural  order. 
Those  parts  of  it  which  were  either  entirely  out  of  place 
in  a  Grammar,  or  were  too  abstruse  for  the  young  Scho- 
lar, have  been  expunged ;  and  the  room  thus  obtained 
has  been  occupied  by  such  improvements  and  modifica- 
tions as  have  been  recognized  by  the  best  modern  autho- 
rities ;  by  a  Table  of  all  the  Irregular  and  Defective 
Verbs  in  the  French  language,  conjugated  in  all  the 
Tenses  which  are  liable  to  Irregularities  ;  and  by  a  Ter- 
minational  Vocabulary,  whereby,  for'  the  first  time  in 
any  Grammar,  and  in  the  short  space  of  12  pages,  the 
Gender  of  every  French  Noun  may  be  promptly  and  cer- 
tainly determined.  The  Exercises  have  also  been  greatly 
amplified,  and  carefully  revised  ;  and  the  Inductive 
Method,  throughout  the  Grammar,  and  particularly  in 
the  Exercises,  has  been,  as  far  as  practicable,  pursued. 

KEY  TO  THE  EXERCISES  IN  THE 
GRAMMAR. 

This  Key  is  intended  to  aid  the  Teacher  and  Parent, 
who  may  not  be  master  of  the  nicer  ditficullies  of  the 
French  language;  and  also  the  self-taught  student.  The 
Fublishers  hope  that  it  will  supply  a  deficiency  which 
has  long  been  felt:  and  be  particularly  useful  in  those 
large  portions  of  the  country  where,  from  the  scattered 
condition  of  the  population,  highly  qualified  French 
teachers  cannot  be  obtained,  or  where  the  studies  of  the 
child  are  directed  by  the  zealous  and  intelligent  parent. 

Ill,    &.    IV. 

COLLOT'S  PRONOUNCING  AND 
INTERLINEAR  FRENCH  READER. 
In  2  vols.,  viz. : 

VOL.  I.  Collot's  Pronouncing  French 
Re.vder  ;  on  a  Plan  of  Pronunciation, 
New,  Simple  and  Effective:  being;  a 
Course  of  Interesting  and  Instructive 
Lessons  selected  from  the  Works  of  the 
best  French  Prose  Writers  and  Poets, 
preceded  by  Easy  Fables.    And, 

VOL.  II.  Collot's  Interlinear  French 
Reader  ;  on  Locke's  Plan  of  Instruc- 
tion :  being  a  Key  to  "  Collot's  Pronounc- 
ing French  Reader." 

These  two  volumes  are  to  be  used  in  conjunction.  The 
one  is  devoted  to  Translation,  the  other  to  Pronunciation : 
which  arrangement  is  deemed  an  improvement  on  the 
ordinary  mode  of  comprising  the  distinct  and  independ- 
ent objects  of  study.  Translation  and  Pronunciation,  in 
the  same  Volume,  and  on  the  same  Page. 

The  InUrlinear  French  Reader  contains  an  Interlinear 
literal-and-free  translation  of  all  the  Prose  in  (he  Pro- 
nouncing French  Reader,  comprising  about  two-thirds 
of  the  latter  volume.  The  Lessons  commence  with  short 
and  simple  Fables,  and  proceed,  by  easy  progression,  to 
varied  selections  from  the  finest  Prose  Writers  in  the 
French  language.  Fundamental  rules,  to  which  frequent 
reference  is  made  in  the  text,  are  placed  at  the  end  of  the 
volume ;  while  foot-notes  give  the  literal  meaning  of  all 
such  words  as  cannot  be  rendered  literally  into  English 
sen^e.  As  the  pupil  advances,  these  helps  are  gradually 
withdrawn,  so  that  a  knowledge  of  all  that  has  preceded 
is  requisite  to  a  competent  rehearsal  of  his  lesson. 

The  Pronouncing  French  Reader  contains  a  system 
of  Pronunciation,  which  is  entirely  new,  and  singularly 
simple  and  eft'ective.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  first  attempt 
which  has  been  made  to  communicate  a  knowledge  of 
French  pronunciation  on  scientific  principles  ;  and  it  con- 
firms, as  far  as  possible,  by  a  Running  Pronunciation  at 
the  held  of  the  page,  &c.,  to  the  plan  which  has  been 
niade  familiar  to  every  one  in  Walker's  English  Pro- 
nouncing Dictionary.  This  volume  consists  of  Selections, 


both  in  Prose  and  Poetry ;  and  is  divided  into  Four  Parts, 
to  acconmiodale  the  progressive  nature  of  the  instructions 
on  Pronunciation.  The  first  three  Parts  consist  entirely 
of  Prose,  and  contain  the  whole  of  the  text  of  which  an 
interlinear  translation  is  given  in  the  Interlinear  French 
Reader.  The  Fourth  Part  comprises  a  Selection  of  Ex- 
tracts from  the  works  of  tlie  best  French  Poets,  preceded 
by  a  short  Treatise  on  the  Reading  of  French  Poetry.  To 
this  Fourth  Part  there  is  no  translation ;  and  the  Treatise 
on  Reading  French  Poetry,  and  the  Notes,  are  given  in 
French :  as  the  pupil,  when  he  has  advanced  thus  fir,  is 
supposed  and  expected  to  be  able  to  read  French,  assisted 
only  by  his  Grammar  and  Dictionary. 

CoUoVs  Pronouncing  and  Interlinear  Frencfi  Reader 
may,  therefore,  be  said  to  enable  a  pupil,  if  he  study 
with  attention,  to  pronounce,  read  and  understand,  any 
French  which  his  teacher  or  his  own  taste  may  select  for 
him ;  although  entirely  ignorant  of  the  language,  when 
he  commenced  them. 

V.    &,   VI. 

COLLOT'S  FRENCH  DIALOGUES 
AND  PHRASES,  with  an  English  Trans 
lation  ;  consisting  of  numerous  Conversa- 
tions on  Familiar  Subjects,  and  a  well- 
selected  Collection  of  Idioms  and  Pro- 
verbs.  The  wliole  calculated  to  facilitate 
the  study  of  the  French  language  ;  and 
particularly  the  Art  of  Speaking  it.  Third 
Edition.    And, 

COLLOT'S  FRENCH  ANECDOTES 
AND  QUESTIONS,  written  in  easy 
style:  Intended  as  a  Reciting  and  Read- 
ing Book  for  Schools;  and  especiallv,  in 
conjunction  with  "Collot's  French  Dia- 
logues and  Phrases,"  as  a  Guide  to  French 
Conversation,    Third  Edition. 

These  Convei'sational  Frciick  Dialog^ies  bring  into  use 
Ihe  ordinary  colloquial  language  of  polite  society.  A 
sustained  connection  of  idea,  and  the  dramatic  form  in 
which  they  are  cast,  render  them  easy  of  acquisition. 
The  pupil,  when  he  has  committed  to  memory  ten  or 
twelve  of  these  Dialojfues,  will  have  made  some  prngres-s 
in  expressing  himself  in  French;  and  will  then  call  ir^to 
play  the  Idioms  and  Proverbs  which  he  will  find  at  the 
end  of  the  volume,  by  introducing  them,  as  occasion 
offers,  in  his  attempts  at  original  conversation. 

The  pupil  is  now  prepared  for  another  step.  Let  him 
then  take  the  volume  oi  French  Anecdotes  and  Questions^ 
and  make  himself  familiar  with  the  incidents  of  one  of 
the  Anecdotes,  without  regard  to  the  words  in  which  it 
is  narrated.  He  will  now  recite  the  anecdote  to  hit 
Teacher,  in  the  best  French  which  he  can  command  at 
the  moment;  who  will  aid  him  if  embarrassed  for  want 
of  a  word.  When  the  pupil  has  recited  the  anecdote,  let 
the  teacher  ask  him  Questions  on  it  in  French,  and  re- 
quire immediate  answers  to  them  in  the  same  language. 
The  Second  Part  of  the  volume  consists  of  QuestioJis, 
prepared  for  this  purpose. 

This  course  of  study  is  to  be  continued  throughout  the 
two  volume-s  of  Dialogues  and  Phmses,  ^nd  of  Anec- 
dotes and  Questions  ;  and  although  the  pupil  may  stum- 
ble a  little  at  first,  he  will  be  surprised  and  delighted  to 
find,  ere  long,  that  he  has,  almost  insensibly,  acquired 
the  enWable  accomplishment  of  speaking  French. 

Such  is  the  method  of  using  these  two  volumes  pnr. 
sued  by  the  Author ;  and  his  success  under  it  has  been 
most  signal  and  flattering.  Those,  however,  who  may 
find  it  inconvenient,  will  conform  to  the  ordinary  plan. 
By  any  mode  of  instruction,  these  Dialogues  and  Phrases 
will  be  found  decidedly  preferable  to  unconnected  Collo- 
quial Phrases;  and  have  been  already  extensively  so 
used.  The  volume  of  Anecdotes  and  Qiiestimts  h  is  also 
been  successfully  introduced  into  Schools  as  a  Reciting 
and  Reading  Bnok;  for  which,  fmm  the  fascinating- na- 
ture of  the  contents,  it  is  well  calculated.  The  Ques- 
tions, under  this  mode  of  using  the  book,  might  be  given 
to  the  pupil  as  an  exercise,  and  written  answers  in  his 
own  French  required. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

Kay  <^'  Brother,  Philadelphia ;  and  C.  //.  Kay  <^  Co,,  Pittsburgh, 


300 


AND  FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  BOOKSELLERS. 


Date  Due 

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